Royals at Rangers
Slugger Joey Gallo has made the most of his matchups with the last-place Kansas City Royals and looks to continue to do damage when he leads the Texas Rangers into the third of a four-game series Saturday afternoon. Gallo clubbed a tie-breaking grand slam in Friday's 6-2 win over the Royals to even the series at a game apiece.
Hunter Pence added a pair of hits and scored a run for the Rangers, who went 3-for-3 with runners in scoring position while winning for the eighth time in their last 10 home games. Gallo is 7-for-20 with with a pair of home runs and seven RBIs against Kansas City this year. He and his teammates will take aim at Royals right-hander Homer Bailey on Saturday, while Lance Lynn goes for the hosts. Whit Merrifield had a pair of hits in Friday's loss while Kansas City went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, FS Kansas City, FS Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Homer Bailey (4-5, 5.79 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Lance Lynn (6-4, 4.66)
Bailey allowed a run and three hits over 4 1/3 innings in a no-decision at the Chicago White Sox on Monday. It was a solid rebound after back-to-back losses in which he gave up a total of 11 runs on 12 hits - three home runs - in six frames. The first of those two straight setbacks came against the Rangers at home on May 16, when the 33-year-old Texas native allowed six runs across 4 1/3 and was taken deep by Gallo.
Lynn has completed at least six innings in six consecutive starts, allowing three runs or fewer in the last four. He has 21 strikeouts over 13 innings in his last two outings, including 10 in a six-inning effort at Seattle his last time out. The Ole Miss product, who limited the Royals to a run in seven frames opposite Bailey on May 16, may need to be careful with Alex Gordon (10-for-22 against Lynn) and Martin Maldonado (5-for-8).
WALK-OFFS
1. Royals DH Jorge Soler was 0-for-4 on Friday after going 3-for-9 with two homers in his previous two games.
2. Pence has nine RBIs over his last nine games while going 11-for-38 in that stretch.
3. Kansas City INF Cheslor Cuthbert homered Friday in his first game in the majors this year.