Sparkman, Royals to face Richard, Blue Jays on Monday
Kansas City Royals (29-55, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (31-53, fourth in the AL East)
Toronto; Monday, 1 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Glenn Sparkman (2-3, 4.07 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 30 strikeouts) Blue Jays: Clayton Richard (0-4, 6.89 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 15 strikeouts)
LINE: Blue Jays favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 10 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE:
The Blue Jays are 15-26 on their home turf. Toronto has a team on-base percentage of .295, led by Eric Sogard with a mark of .379.
The Royals are 13-30 in road games. The Kansas City offense has compiled a .245 batting average as a team this season, Whit Merrifield leads the team with a mark of .301. The Royals won the last meeting 7-6. Brad Keller notched his fourth victory and Jorge Soler went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs for Kansas City. Aaron Sanchez registered his 11th loss for Toronto.
TOP PERFORMERS: Randal Grichuk leads the Blue Jays with 15 home runs and has 34 RBIs. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has 19 hits and is batting .422 over the last 10 games for Toronto.
Soler leads the Royals with 22 home runs and has 55 RBIs. Martin Maldonado is 9-for-27 with five doubles, two home runs and four RBIs over the last 10 games for Kansas City.
LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 5-5, .282 batting average, 5.56 ERA, outscored opponents by seven runs
Royals: 4-6, .254 batting average, 4.69 ERA, outscored by one run
Blue Jays Injuries: Jacob Waguespack: 10-day IL (shoulder), Ryan Tepera: 60-day IL (elbow), Marcus Stroman: day-to-day (shoulder), Matt Shoemaker: 60-day IL (knee), Elvis Luciano: 60-day IL (elbow), Edwin Jackson: 10-day IL (back), Clay Buchholz: 60-day IL (shoulder), Ryan Borucki: 60-day IL (elbow), Dalton Pompey: 60-day IL (concussion), Devon Travis: 60-day IL (knee).
Royals Injuries: Trevor Oaks: 60-day IL (hip), Jesse Hahn: 60-day IL (elbow), Adalberto Mondesi: 10-day IL (groin), Salvador Perez: 60-day IL (elbow).
