First-place Royals-Astros matchup is reason to twist and shout
Let's be honest: Raise your hand if, before the season started and you were looking at the Royals' 2015 schedule, you circled this week's series at Houston as a matchup of division leaders.
No one? Bueller? Bueller?
Of course not. The Royals are defending American League champions, but even for those who defied the "experts" and pegged Kansas City as the team to beat in the AL Central, no way you saw the Astros -- whose 70-92 record a year ago was actually a big step up after three straight seasons of 100-plus losses -- stepping over the Angels et al in the AL West.
As it turns out, this figures to be the most heavyweight series KC has played since facing the National League-leading Cardinals a couple weeks ago. In fact, this is just the third time ever that the Royals and Astros have both been in first place entering games of June 29. The other times were in 1980, when Kansas City won its first AL pennant and the Astros won their very first division title (the NL West, their home back then), and in 1979, when both teams wound up with second-place finishes.
Another point of similarity for the two clubs: KC and Houston both have strong bullpens:
They are at opposite ends of the spectrum, however, when it comes to how many times they strike out on offense. The Astros have whiffed 728 times this season, more than any other major league team, while the Royals have struck out a major league-low 420 times.
2015 MAJOR LEAGUE BULLPEN RANKINGS
| Statistic | Houston Astros | Kansas City Royals |
| Wins | 15 (T-3rd) | 12 (T-10th) |
| ERA | 2.60 (4th) | 2.07 (2nd) |
| Opponent batting average | .194 (1st) |
.196 (2nd) |
| Saves | 24 (T-10th) | 25 (T-5th) |
| Inherited runners scored percentage | 25.0 (T-7th) | 25.0 (T-7th) |
More notes of interest entering the series:
• The Royals are batting .294 with runners in scoring position and two outs. That's Major League Baseball's second-highest average and nearly 100 points higher than their opponents (.195).
Joe Blanton has won both of his first two career starts as a Royal.
• The Astros are the only team in the majors this season to have hit at least 10 home runs out of all nine spots in the batting order. Their 10 home runs from No. 9 batters so far this season are just one off the franchise mark for an entire season (2013).
• Joe Blanton, who did not pitch in the majors in 2014, has won both of his first two career starts as a Kansas City Royal. When he starts Tuesday night in Houston, he has a chance to become the first pitcher to win his first three career starts for the franchise since 1992, when Dennis Rasmussen won his first four.
MOST RBIS BY PLAYERS WITH FEWER THAN 10 HOME RUNS IN 2015
| Player | Team | RBIs |
Home runs |
| Kendrys Morales | Kansas City Royals | 48 | 9 |
| Andrew McCutchen | Pittsburgh Pirates |
44 | 9 |
| Matt Kemp | San Diego Padres |
41 | 6 |
| Troy Tulowitzki | Colorado Rockies | 41 | 8 |
| Eric Hosmer | Kansas City Royals | 40 | 8 |
