Junis expected to start for the Royals against the Rays
Tampa Bay Rays (19-9, first in the AL East) vs. Kansas City Royals (9-20, fifth in the AL Central)
Kansas City, Kansas; Tuesday, 8:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Rays: Blake Snell (2-2, 2.54 ERA, .92 WHIP, 39 strikeouts) Royals: Jakob Junis (2-2, 5.57 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 32 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Yandy Diaz and the Rays will take on Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals are 6-10 in home games. The Kansas City pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 5.39. Brad Keller leads the team with a 4.07 ERA.
The Rays are 10-2 on the road. The Tampa Bay offense has compiled a .257 batting average as a team this season, good for eleventh in the American League. Ji-Man Choi leads the team with an average of .299. The Rays won the last meeting 8-5. Yonny Chirinos notched his fourth victory and Choi went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for Tampa Bay. Keller registered his third loss for Kansas City.
TOP PERFORMERS: Alex Gordon leads the Royals with 15 extra base hits and is batting .301. Hunter Dozier is 15-for-33 with two doubles, two triples, three home runs and nine RBIs over the last 10 games for Kansas City.
Diaz leads the Rays with seven home runs home runs and is slugging .596. Austin Meadows is 18-for-40 with three doubles, a triple, four home runs and 13 RBIs over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 2-8, .234 batting average, 5.94 ERA, outscored by 16 runs
Rays: 5-5, .233 batting average, 4.02 ERA
Royals Injuries: Trevor Oaks: 60-day IL (hip), Jakob Junis: day-to-day (hand), Jesse Hahn: 60-day IL (elbow), Brian Flynn: 10-day IL (elbow), Billy Hamilton: day-to-day (hamstring), Lucas Duda: 10-day IL (lumbar strain), Salvador Perez: 60-day IL (elbow).
Rays Injuries: Jose De Leon: 60-day IL (elbow), Anthony Banda: 60-day IL (elbow), Austin Meadows: 10-day IL (thumb), Joey Wendle: 10-day IL (wrist), Matt Duffy: 10-day IL (back).
