By The Associated Press

Houston Astros (95-53, first in the AL West) vs. Kansas City Royals (55-92, fourth in the AL Central)

Kansas City, Kansas; Friday, 8:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Gerrit Cole (16-5, 2.73 ERA) Royals: Danny Duffy (6-6, 4.71 ERA)

BOTTOM LINE: Houston enters the matchup as losers of their last three games.

The Royals are 29-44 in home games. Kansas City has slugged .401 this season. Jorge Soler leads the club with a .555 slugging percentage, including 72 extra-base hits and 44 home runs.

The Astros are 39-33 in road games. Houston has hit 255 home runs this season, fourth in the American League. Alex Bregman leads the club with 35, averaging one every 14.6 at-bats.

TOP PERFORMERS: Soler leads the Royals with 44 home runs and is batting .255. Hunter Dozier is 16-for-36 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for Kansas City.

Bregman leads the Astros with 103 RBIs and is batting .294. Yordan Alvarez is 11-for-37 with three doubles, three home runs and 10 RBIs over the last 10 games for Houston.

LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 7-3, .277 batting average, 4.50 ERA, outscored opponents by two runs

Astros: 6-4, .294 batting average, 4.79 ERA, outscored opponents by 23 runs

Royals Injuries: Trevor Oaks: (hip), Kelvin Gutierrez: (toe), Salvador Perez: (elbow).

Astros Injuries: Aaron Sanchez: (pectoral), Ryan Pressly: (knee), Brad Peacock: (shoulder), Collin McHugh: (undisclosed), Lance McCullers Jr.: (elbow), Yuli Gurriel: (leg), Carlos Correa: (back).

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

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