Kansas City Royals (19-37, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Texas Rangers (27-27, third in the AL West)
Arlington, Texas; Friday, 8 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Danny Duffy (3-1, 3.12 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 27 strikeouts) Rangers: Ariel Jurado (1-2, 2.28 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 16 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Texas and Kansas City will face off at Globe Life Park in Arlington on Friday.
The Rangers are 17-9 on their home turf. The Texas pitching staff owns a team ERA of 5.12, Mike Minor paces the staff with a mark of 2.74.
The Royals are 8-20 on the road. The Kansas City pitching staff has a team ERA of 5.18, Jorge Lopez leads the staff with a mark of 6.67. The Royals won the last meeting 4-2. Jakob Junis earned his fourth victory and Jorge Soler went 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs for Kansas City. Minor took his fourth loss for Texas.
TOP PERFORMERS: Hunter Pence leads the Rangers with 39 RBIs and is batting .295. Asdrubal Cabrera is 9-for-31 with two doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Texas.
Whit Merrifield leads the Royals with 68 hits and has 28 RBIs. Hunter Dozier is 12-for-34 with four doubles, two home runs and nine RBIs over the last 10 games for Kansas City.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 6-4, .248 batting average, 4.72 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs
Royals: 4-6, .257 batting average, 4.74 ERA, outscored by two runs
Rangers Injuries: Edinson Volquez: 60-day IL (elbow), Yohander Mendez: 60-day IL (elbow), Taylor Hearn: 10-day IL (elbow), Luke Farrell: 60-day IL (jaw), Scott Heineman: 60-day IL (shoulder), Willie Calhoun: 10-day IL (quad).
Royals Injuries: Trevor Oaks: 60-day IL (hip), Jesse Hahn: 60-day IL (elbow), Lucas Duda: 10-day IL (lumbar strain), Hunter Dozier: day-to-day (chest), Salvador Perez: 60-day IL (elbow).
