Written By: The Persian
The Houston Astros clash against the surprising and surging Kansas City Royals in an interesting four-game set, with the opener of the series being played Thursday night inside Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. They toss out the first pitch at 8:10 pm with playoff implications for both clubs.
Bookmaker has listed the Houston Astros as the -160 favorites in this game.
The Royals have shown some fight this season and they are not nearly as good as the team they once had years ago, but they have hung around and have given their fanbase some hope going forward.
They have a nice mix of veteran players to go along with some young players, who have the potential to become All-Stars. And to their surprise they have hung around a good but not great division and have a chance to shock the baseball world by winning it.
The Royals took three of four from the Cleveland Guardians but lost the finale on Wednesday, 7-5, which also snapped a nice but brief three-game winning streak. Kansas City sits with a record of 75-59 and are just one game back of the Guardians for first place in the AL Central.
The Astros have turned the corner and have shown once again they are going to be a scary team once the playoffs roll around. They have the veteran pedigree that few teams have, and they have been there before. Look for them to try to score early and often against the Royals, who do not have the type of lineup that the Astros bolster.
On offense, the Astros are led by left fielder Yordan Alvarez, who has put up really impressive numbers this season. He has belted 25 home runs and is one of the club's most clutch players as well as one of their most feared power hitters.
He is also batting a very impressive .305 while driving in 67 runs. The Astros as a club have hit 156 home runs as a team. They are also batting a very solid .260 on the season.
They will toss out Hunter Brown, who has amassed a record of 11-7 to go along with an ERA of 3.72. He has fanned 151 in 140 innings of work. Brown needs to get ahead of the hitters in this one, get into an early groove, and then settle down.
The Astros are 1-4 in their last five games and 2-3 in their last five games against the number. They are also 34-34 in the road games this season against the spread, and the totals have gone over in two out of their last five games, too. The Royals are 3-2 in their last five games and 2-3 in their last five games against the spread. They are 35-29 in their road games against the spread too. The totals have gone over in three out of their last five games.
