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Houston Astros (3-6) vs. Kansas City Royals (6-2), Apr 14, 2016, 7:10 PM CDTTV: ROOT SPORTS Southwest
Online: MLB.TV
Radio: KBME 790, La Nueva 94.1 FM (En Español)
Royals SB Nation Blog: Royals Review
Pitching Matchup
RHP Doug Fister (1-0, 5.40 ERA, 1.40 WHIP) vs. RHP Ian Kennedy (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.90 WHIP)
Preview
Runs have been hard to come by for the Astros the last two games, but the strikeouts have been bountiful. It's not a good mix for he Astros' success. At the same time, this is what this time is. At times, Crush City will produce countless home runs but it will also produce piles of strikeouts.
The Astros will need a strong outing from Doug Fister, who lasted just five innings in Milwaukee against the Brewers -- allowing three runs on five hits and two walks. He only threw 86 pitches in that game.
Current Royals are batting .311 (68x219) with a .370 BABIP, 3.100 K%, and 4.00 BB%.
| KANSAS CITY ROYALS CAREER STATISTICS VS. DOUG FISTER | ||||||||||||
| BATTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Alcides Escobar | 33 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0.303 | 0.324 | 0.424 | 0.748 |
| Mike Moustakas | 25 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0.360 | 0.360 | 0.520 | 0.880 |
| Alex Gordon | 33 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 0.242 | 0.265 | 0.333 | 0.598 |
| Eric Hosmer | 23 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0.348 | 0.423 | 0.565 | 0.988 |
| Salvador Perez | 24 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0.250 | 0.308 | 0.375 | 0.683 |
| Jarrod Dyson | 14 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.286 | 0.286 | 0.429 | 0.714 |
| Kendrys Morales | 16 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0.250 | 0.250 | 0.563 | 0.813 |
| Lorenzo Cain | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.250 | 0.250 | 0.250 | 0.500 |
| Drew Butera | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.400 | 0.400 | 0.600 | 1.000 |
| Omar Infante | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 1.000 | 1.500 |
| Tony Cruz | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.500 | 0.667 | 0.500 | 1.167 |
Ian Kennedy was an under the radar pickup for the Royals. Kennedy solidifies a rotation that is only missing one piece and won a World Series last season.
Ian Kennedy hopes to repeat his first start of the season, pitching 6 2/3 scoreless innings against the Twins.
Current Astros are batting .220 (9x41) against Kennedy with a .250 BABIP, 3.745 FIP, 17.78 K%, and 7.00 BB%.
| HOUSTON ASTROS CAREER STATISTICS VS. IAN KENNEDY | ||||||||||||
| BATTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Jose Altuve | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | 0 | 0.333 |
| Jason Castro | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.667 |
| Evan Gattis | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carlos Gomez | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.667 |
| Colby Rasmus | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.5 | 0.833 |
| Luis Valbuena | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0.125 | 0.222 | 0.375 | 0.597 |