Rangers play the Royals in first of 3-game series

Kansas City Royals (22-34, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Texas Rangers (25-31, fourth in the AL West)

Arlington, Texas; Friday, 8:05 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Stephen Kolek (3-0, 2.77 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 14 strikeouts); Rangers: MacKenzie Gore (3-4, 4.42 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 62 strikeouts)

LINE: Rangers -128, Royals +107; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Texas Rangers host the Kansas City Royals on Friday to open a three-game series.

Texas has a 12-13 record at home and a 25-31 record overall. The Rangers have a 10-23 record in games when they have given up at least one home run.

Kansas City is 22-34 overall and 7-17 in road games. The Royals have an 11-6 record in games when they did not allow a home run.

Friday’s game is the first meeting between these teams this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jake Burger leads the Rangers with 10 home runs while slugging .417. Ezequiel Duran is 12 for 36 with three doubles, a home run and 11 RBIs over the last 10 games.

Vinnie Pasquantino has six doubles, two triples and five home runs for the Royals. Salvador Perez is 10 for 32 with three home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 3-7, .239 batting average, 4.80 ERA, outscored by eight runs

Royals: 3-7, .211 batting average, 4.70 ERA, outscored by 24 runs

INJURIES: Rangers: Wyatt Langford: 10-Day IL (forearm), Carter Baumler: 60-Day IL (ribs), Cole Winn: 15-Day IL (arm), Robert Garcia: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Josh Smith: 10-Day IL (glute), Corey Seager: 10-Day IL (back), Cody Bradford: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jordan Montgomery: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Royals: James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cole Ragans: 15-Day IL (elbow), Carlos Estevez: 15-Day IL (foot), Kris Bubic: 15-Day IL (elbow), Matt Strahm: 15-Day IL (knee), Jonathan India: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.