Kansas City Royals (44-97, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (77-63, third in the AL East)
Toronto; Friday, 7:07 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Collin Snider (0-0, 4.22 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, five strikeouts); Blue Jays: Yusei Kikuchi (9-5, 3.63 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 152 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Blue Jays -244, Royals +198; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Toronto Blue Jays host the Kansas City Royals to begin a three-game series.
Toronto is 77-63 overall and 35-30 at home. The Blue Jays have hit 163 total home runs to rank ninth in the AL.
Kansas City has gone 18-51 on the road and 44-97 overall. The Royals have a 30-16 record in games when they scored five or more runs.
Friday's game is the fifth time these teams match up this season. The Blue Jays hold a 3-1 advantage in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has 27 doubles and 21 home runs for the Blue Jays. Ernie Clement is 12-for-31 with a triple and a home run over the past 10 games.
Maikel Garcia has 19 doubles, four triples and four home runs for the Royals. Nelson Velazquez is 10-for-36 with three doubles and five home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 6-4, .297 batting average, 4.15 ERA, outscored opponents by 15 runs
Royals: 3-7, .246 batting average, 4.75 ERA, outscored opponents by one run
INJURIES: Blue Jays: Brandon Belt: day-to-day (back), Danny Jansen: 10-Day IL (finger), Hagen Danner: 60-Day IL (oblique), Bo Bichette: 10-Day IL (quadricep), Matt Chapman: 10-Day IL (finger), Erik Swanson: 15-Day IL (spine), Otto Lopez: 60-Day IL (oblique), Adam Cimber: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Royals: Daniel Lynch: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jake Brentz: 60-Day IL (elbow), John McMillon: 15-Day IL (forearm), Brad Keller: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Nick Pratto: 10-Day IL (groin), Josh Staumont: 60-Day IL (neck), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Vinnie Pasquantino: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Kris Bubic: 60-Day IL (flexor)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
