Hernandez expected to start for the Royals against the Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates (14-28, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (18-28, fifth in the AL Central)
Kansas City, Kansas; Saturday, 7:05 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Pittsburgh: Trevor Williams (1-6, 5.80 ERA) Kansas City: Carlos Hernandez (0-0, 1.42 ERA)
LINE: Royals favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Kansas City and Pittsburgh will play on Saturday.
The Royals are 8-13 on their home turf. Kansas City has hit 52 home runs as a team this season. Whit Merrifield leads the team with eight, averaging one every 23.2 at-bats.
The Pirates are 5-14 on the road. Pittsburgh has slugged .348, last in the MLB. Colin Moran leads the team with a .500 slugging percentage, including 14 extra-base hits and seven home runs.
TOP PERFORMERS: Merrifield ranks second on the Royals with eight home runs and has 27 RBIs.
Moran leads the Pirates with seven home runs home runs and is slugging .500.
INJURIES: Royals: Glenn Sparkman: (right forearm), Mike Montgomery: (lat strain), Ian Kennedy: (calf), Foster Griffin: (forearm), Jorge Soler: (oblique), Franchy Cordero: (right wrist), Kelvin Gutierrez: (elbow).
Pirates: Jameson Taillon: (elbow), Mitch Keller: (left side), Keone Kela: (forearm), Clay Holmes: (right forearm), Michael Feliz: (right forearm), Nick Burdi: (right elbow), Tyler Bashlor: (back), Chris Archer: (neck), Kevin Kramer: (hip), Anthony Alford: (elbow), Phillip Evans: (broken jaw/concussion), Luke Maile: (finger).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.