Minor expected to start for Kansas City against Houston

Houston Astros (70-50, first in the AL West) vs. Kansas City Royals (52-67, fifth in the AL Central)

Kansas City, Missouri; Thursday, 2:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Luis Garcia (9-6, 3.22 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 134 strikeouts) Royals: Mike Minor (8-11, 5.35 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 135 strikeouts)

LINE: Royals +163, Astros -189; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Jose Altuve and the Astros will take on the Royals Thursday.

The Royals are 32-30 in home games in 2020. Kansas City has slugged .387 this season. Adalberto Mondesi leads the team with a mark of .833.

The Astros are 33-27 in road games. Houston has hit 157 home runs as a team this season. Jose Altuve leads the team with 25, averaging one every 17.6 at-bats.

The Royals won the last meeting 3-2. Domingo Tapia secured his first victory and Hunter Dozier went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI for Kansas City. Blake Taylor registered his fourth loss for Houston.

TOP PERFORMERS: Whit Merrifield leads the Royals with 129 hits and has 57 RBI.

Altuve leads the Astros with 25 home runs and is slugging .475.

LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 5-5, .268 batting average, 4.70 ERA, outscored by 12 runs

Astros: 5-5, .276 batting average, 2.83 ERA, outscored opponents by 14 runs

INJURIES: Royals: Kyle Zimmer: (neck/trap), Greg Holland: (shoulder), Jesse Hahn: (shoulder), Ronald Bolanos: (flexor), Adalberto Mondesi: (oblique).

Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Jose Urquidy: (arm), Andre Scrubb: (shoulder), Enoli Paredes: (shoulder), Rafael Montero: (shoulder), Tyler Ivey: (undisclosed), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Kyle Tucker: (covid-19), Alex Bregman: (hamstring).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.