Rangers at Royals
The Texas Rangers may find the waters a bit calmer when they visit the Kansas City Royals for a three-game series beginning Tuesday after getting outscored 33-11 in losing four straight to Houston over the weekend. Kansas City (14-27) has the second-worst record in baseball and hasn't won a series since sweeping Cleveland from April 12-14.
Both clubs have lost seven of their last 10 games and continue to struggle getting batters out as they are saddled with plus-5.00 ERAs. "You have to set your standards higher," Texas manager Chris Woodward told reporters. "Will you always get there? No. But when you have to take care of the baseball, execute pitches, have quality at-bats and typically good things happen. When you don't do those things, you get exposed. Those are the kind of things good teams take advantage of." Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor (.137 batting average) was given Sunday off and is 6-for-53 with 25 strikeouts since coming off the injured list April 26. Royals left fielder Alex Gordon went 5-for-12 with two home runs and four RBIs in the three-game series versus Philadelphia over the weekend and is batting .296 with a club-most 31 RBIs. Texas' Shelby Miller hopes to build off an encouraging performance when he takes the ball Tuesday and opposes Danny Duffy, who is coming off his first victory of the season.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Texas), FS Kansas City
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Shelby Miller (1-2, 7.48 ERA) vs. Royals LH Danny Duffy (1-1, 3.06)
Miller allowed two runs, four hits and one walk while striking out six in four innings of Texas' 9-6 victory at Pittsburgh on Wednesday. The 28-year-old Houston native showed better command after striking out 13 and issuing 20 free passes in his first six starts of the season - a departure from his career 2.1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Kansas City's Jorge Soler is 5-for-12 with three solo home runs versus Miller, who lost to the Royals in 2014 in his only appearance against them.
Duffy yielded two runs, six hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings of a 12-2 victory at Houston on Tuesday. The 30-year-old Californian, who was sidelined until April 26 with a shoulder injury, has allowed 17 hits in 17 2/3 innings in three starts this season. The Rangers' Asdrubal Cabrera is 5-for-12 with a home run and two walks against Duffy, who is 2-2 with a 2.89 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in seven starts versus Texas.
WALK-OFFS
1. Rangers RF Hunter Pence (.316, seven home runs, 25 RBIs) is 8-for-21 with four homers and 12 RBIs in his last seven games after going 0-for-5 with an RBI on Sunday.
2. The Royals lead the majors with 40 stolen bases - eight more than second-place Texas entering Monday - with 2B Adalberto Mondesi pacing baseball with 13.
3. Texas has won four straight season series over Kansas City, winning 21 of 28 meetings in that span.