Royals at Astros
Offensive and bullpen woes reared their ugly head as the Kansas City Royals were swept in convincing fashion during their first series of the season, but they have seemingly passed those struggles on to their next opponent. The Royals attempt to win their third straight after dropping their first three contests Sunday when they eye a road series sweep of the Houston Astros.
Kansas City was outscored 21-5 in Minnesota to begin the season, as the Twins took turns pounding the Royals for 15 runs over eight relief innings. The offense and bullpen have been much sharper since arriving in Houston, however, as the Royals have outscored the Astros 12-4, while Kansas City relievers have allowed only one run on one hit and one walk in five frames. Most of the Royals' resurgent offense this weekend has come at the expense of the Astros' relievers, as Houston surrendered three runs in the eighth inning of Friday's 5-1 series-opening defeat before Luke Gregerson was pummeled for six more in the eighth one night later during Kansas City's 7-3 comeback victory. Houston also yielded two in the ninth in a 4-2 loss to Seattle on Thursday, ending the Astros' chances of beginning the season with a four-game sweep of the Mariners.
TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, FSN Kansas City, ROOT (Houston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Nathan Karns (0-0, 54.00 ERA) vs. Astros RH Lance McCullers Jr. (1-0, 1.50)
Karns, who was traded from Seattle to the Royals in January for Jarrod Dyson, struggled in his Kansas City debut Wednesday at Minnesota, giving up four runs on two hits and two walks while only getting two outs in relief. Despite going 6-2 in 22 appearances (16 starts) in 2016, the Texas Tech product is hoping to put behind him a forgettable season in which he posted a 5.15 ERA and 1.48 WHIP with the Mariners. Karns has pitched well in six outings (three starts) versus the Astros, however, going 1-0 with a 2.88 ERA.
McCullers shook off a shaky spring (1-2, 7.31 ERA) with a dominant effort Tuesday against Seattle, picking up the win after striking out seven while allowing one run on five hits and two walks in six frames. The 23-year-old, who missed the final two months of last season with elbow problems, fanned five of the first 10 batters he faced and induced 12 groundball outs compared to none in the air. McCullers enjoyed similar success in his only career turn versus the Royals as a rookie in 2015, earning a victory after yielding a run over seven innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Kansas City C Salvador Perez has homered in a career-high three straight games. His 45 home runs since the start of the 2015 season are tied for the most in the majors by a catcher over that time (Yasmani Grandal).
2. Houston C Brian McCann went deep for the second time in his last three outings Saturday, moving within five homers of tying Roy Campanella (239) for 10th place on the all-time list among backstops.
3. The Royals have issued a total of five free passes in this series after walking 23 batters against the Twins.