The Kansas City Royals will look to extend their longest winning streak of the season on Sunday afternoon when they host the Houston Astros in the finale of a three-game series.
Fresh off a pair of 2-0 victories over Houston to boost its winning streak to six games, Kansas City will aim for its second straight sweep on the final day of its six-game homestand.
“I think all that matters in our locker room is the win,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “There’s going to be nights where we win 10-8, and there’s going to be nights when we win 2-0. A win is all that matters, and that’s what our singular focus is.”
Sunday’s starter, Kris Bubic (2-1, 1.45 ERA), hopes to continue the Kansas City pitching staff’s scoreless stretch. The left-hander enters his sixth start of the season with the American League’s fourth-best ERA.
In his last start, Bubic struck out six over seven scoreless innings Tuesday in a no-decision against the Colorado Rockies. The Royals won 4-3 in 11 innings.
Bubic, 27, is 0-1 with a 2.38 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) versus Houston.
Offensively, Bobby Witt Jr. extended his career-best hitting streak to 18 games in Saturday’s win and is batting .318 with a team-leading 34 hits. Vinnie Pasquantino connected on his team-high third home run of the season.
Houston entered the weekend set as a winner of three games in a row but hasn’t mustered a run in 24 consecutive innings. The Astros have nine hits in the series and just three for extra bases.
“We’re having a tough time getting a big hit,” manager Joe Espada said. “I don’t want to take any credit away from Kansas City — I think we’ve been pitched pretty tough. We’ve faced two good starters (Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha) and a pretty good bullpen. They’re playing pretty good baseball; they’re kind of on a winning streak right now, so we’ve just got to forget about this one, turn the page and bounce back, get a win (Sunday).”
One of Houston’s lone bright spots this weekend has been third baseman Isaac Paredes, who’s gone 4-for-8 with a pair of doubles.
The Astros’ offensive struggles have been a theme this season, with the team tied for 26th in the majors with 92 runs and 28th overall with just 19 homers. The club does have the fourth-best ERA (3.19) and will look to continue that solid pitching in the series finale.
Right-hander Hunter Brown (3-1, 1.16 ERA) has been a key factor in the staff’s hot start — owning baseball’s third-best ERA.
Brown has thrown three consecutive scoreless outings, including a seven-inning shutout of the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, when he struck out a season-high nine batters in a 7-0 victory.
The 26-year-old right-hander hasn’t fared well against Kansas City, going 0-2 with a 13.06 ERA (15 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings) in three starts.
Houston is aiming to avoid a second straight sweep at Kauffman Stadium, following three consecutive losses at Kansas City in April 2024. The teams will square off in Houston for a three-game set beginning May 12.
–Field Level Media
