Astros try to get offense going vs. Royals

HOUSTON -- Royals manager Ned Yost got all the confirmation he needed on Kansas City right-hander Nate Karns during spring training, enough to express an unwavering confidence in Karns as he prepares to make his first start on Sunday.

Karns made his Royals debut last Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins, allowing four runs on two hits and two walks while working in relief in a 9-1 loss. That marked his eighth consecutive relief appearance, dating back to last season when he pitched for the Seattle Mariners. His start in the series finale against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park will be his first since June 25, 2016.

In his fifth major league season with his fourth team, Karns has yet to pitch with any level of consistency. That didn't prevent the Royals (2-3) from trading for Karns in the offseason, and this spring he went 3-2 with a 3.91 ERA over six starts.

"We do our homework when we scout guys," Yost said. "It was a difficult trade for us. We traded somebody that had been with us a long time, someone that we loved a lot in (outfielder) Jarrod Dyson. We wanted to make sure that we got a quality player back, and we feel like we have."

Karns is 1-0 with a 2.88 ERA in six appearances against Houston, including a 0.93 ERA and a .197 batting average against over three starts.

Those numbers don't bode well for the Astros (3-3), who will look to get their offense untracked while attempting to avert a series sweep. After winning the first three games of their seven-game, season-opening homestand, the Astros have dropped three consecutive games while in search of an offensive spark.

Their 7-3 loss on Saturday night offered a similar refrain. Left-hander Dallas Keuchel was sharp, allowing just one run on two hits over seven innings. But he received little run support, departed with a 2-1 lead, and watched from the dugout as the Royals rallied for six runs in the eighth inning off reliever Luke Gregerson.

The Astros are averaging just 2.7 runs per game, have stranded 35 baserunners during their homestand, and are hitting a paltry .147 (5-for-34) with runners in scoring position. Following the offseason acquisitions of Nori Aoki, Brian McCann, Josh Reddick and Carlos Beltran, Houston was expected to field one of the more potent offenses in the American League. Six games into 2017, that hasn't been the case.

"We've got to control the strike zone a little bit better," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "We've tried to swing our way out of this collective lack of piecing hits together.

"We've had a little stretch here where we haven't pieced together a lot of hits. We've got a couple guys who have gotten hits here and there but for all of our guys to get into the season and get a little more comfortable or maybe a little bit more patient and selective, to take whatever the game gives you will be a step in the right direction."