Peacock scheduled to start as Houston hosts Kansas City
Kansas City Royals (13-24, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Houston Astros (21-15, first in the AL West)
Houston; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Jorge Lopez (0-3, 5.09 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 37 strikeouts) Astros: Brad Peacock (0-2, 5.28 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 26 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Houston and Kansas City will square off at Minute Maid Park Wednesday.
The Astros are 11-4 on their home turf. Houston's team on-base percentage of .347 is third in the majors. Alex Bregman leads the lineup with an OBP of .403.
The Royals are 5-13 on the road. The Kansas City pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 5.05. Brad Keller leads the team with a 3.99 earned run average. The Astros won the last meeting 6-4. Gerrit Cole earned his third victory and Robinson Chirinos went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs for Houston. Jakob Junis took his third loss for Kansas City.
TOP PERFORMERS: Michael Brantley leads the Astros with 44 hits and has 24 RBIs. George Springer is 11-for-38 with three doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Houston.
Adalberto Mondesi leads the Royals with 20 extra base hits and has 32 RBIs. Kelvin Gutierrez is 12-for-40 with a double, a triple, a home run and 10 RBIs over the last 10 games for Kansas City.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 6-4, .271 batting average, 3.58 ERA, outscored opponents by 21 runs
Royals: 4-6, .257 batting average, 4.47 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs
Astros Injuries: Joe Smith: 10-day IL (achilles), Lance McCullers Jr.: 10-day IL (elbow).
Royals Injuries: Trevor Oaks: 60-day IL (hip), Jesse Hahn: 60-day IL (elbow), Brian Flynn: 10-day IL (elbow), Lucas Duda: 10-day IL (lumbar strain), Salvador Perez: 60-day IL (elbow).
