:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46646120/usa-today-8674235.0.jpg)
Houston Astros (45-34) vs. Kansas City Royals (44-29), Jun 29, 2015 7:10 PM CDT
TV: Roots Sports SW, MLB.TV
Radio: KBME 790 AM, KLAT 1010 AM
Pitching matchup
LHP Dallas Keuchel (9-3, 2.17 ERA, 0.96 WHIP) vs. LHP Danny Duffy (2-3, 5.44 ERA, 1.70 WHIP)
Preview
The Astros couldn't have asked for a better result in game one. Houston took it to the Royals, 6-1 on Monday, hitting two home runs and getting seven solid innings from Lance McCullers.
Houston now turns to Dallas Keuchel in the battle of the beards. Dallas Keuchel vs. Danny Duffy. Maybe they would measure length of their beards before the game and award a bonus run? Just a thought. Keuchel has been everything the Astros could have asked for this year. He rebounded after giving up eight runs over two starts with a nine-inning shutout of the Yankees in his most recent start.
| KANSAS CITY ROYALS CAREER STATISTICS VS. DALLAS KEUCHEL | ||||||||||||
| BATTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Alex Rios"]">Alex Rios | 20 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0.400 | 0.429 | 0.600 | 1.029 |
| Eric Hosmer"]">Eric Hosmer | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.667 | 0.667 | 0.667 | 1.333 |
| Kendrys Morales"]">Kendrys Morales | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.300 | 0.364 | 0.300 | 0.664 |
| Alcides Escobar"]">Alcides Escobar | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.667 |
| Alex Gordon"]">Alex Gordon | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0.250 | 0.571 | 0.250 | 0.821 |
| Omar Infante"]">Omar Infante | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.125 | 0.125 | 0.125 | 0.250 |
| Salvador Perez"]">Salvador Perez | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.167 | 0.167 | 0.167 | 0.333 |
| Lorenzo Cain"]">Lorenzo Cain | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.167 | 0.000 | 0.167 |
Duffy pitched 4 2/3 innings in his first start since shoulder surgery on June 24 against Seattle, allowing just one earned run on eight hits.
| HOUSTON ASTROS CAREER STATISTICS VS. DANNY DUFFY | ||||||||||||
| BATTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Jose Altuve"]">Jose Altuve | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 1.000 |
| Chris Carter"]">Chris Carter | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0.500 | 0.750 | 2.000 | 2.750 |
| Marwin Gonzalez"]">Marwin Gonzalez | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 2.000 |
| Jed Lowrie"]">Jed Lowrie | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.667 |
| George Springer"]">George Springer | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.500 | 0.750 | 2.000 | 2.750 |
| Jason Castro"]">Jason Castro | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Robbie Grossman"]">Robbie Grossman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.500 | 0.000 | 0.500 |
| L.J. Hoes"]">L.J. Hoes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Colby Rasmus"]">Colby Rasmus | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Jonathan Villar"]">Jonathan Villar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.500 | 0.000 | 0.500 |
✮✮✮
Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a $125,000 one-day fantasy baseball league today. It's $2 to join and first place wins $10,000. Enter now! Here's the link.