Game eighty: Kansas City Royals at Houston Astros

The Houston Space People will face off against the Kansas City Monarchical People for the third time in this series. The first two games were close, but Houston scored five in the last three innings to win on Monday and late Kansas City rallies fell short on Tuesday to secure at least a split for Houston. Bobby Witt Jr. was hit by a pitch to the hand last night in the 9th and exited the game. X-rays came back negative and he’s currently day-to-day.

Brad Keller takes the mound for the Royals. He has a 2.16 ERA in his last three starts, but those have come against the worst lineups in baseball in Oakland and Detroit. This will be Keller’s 99th career start and his first in Houston.

Cristian Javier will start for Houston. After being deployed as a swingman for most of his career so far, the 25-year old has been starting since early May. He has a 3.38 ERA and 2.53 FIP in nine starts since joining the rotation. He’s been on a heater lately. Check out his last two starts: 14 innings, only one run (on a solo homer), one walk, and 27 strikeouts. Sheesh. That included seven hitless innings against the Yankees.

With a win tonight, the Royals would retain the chance for a split after dropping the first two games of this set. With a loss, the Royals would lose their first road series since June 13-15 in San Francisco.

First Pitch: 7:10pm CDT

Royals Lineup

Astros Lineup