Winners of a season-high six in a row and 21 of their last 29, the visiting Astros will look to continue their rapid ascent on Saturday when they play the second contest of their three-game series versus the Kansas City Royals.Speaking of fast starts, Houston enjoyed quite a blistering beginning in the series opener on Friday as George Springer’s grand slam highlighted a nine-run first inning en route to a convincing 13-4 victory. Springer started this rally with a leadoff triple and then managed to hit a grand slam. The Astros have scored 19 runs in their last three games and four or more runs in six of their last nine games. After tonight, Major League Baseball has seen 10 starts where a pitcher allows 10 or more runs but records three or fewer outs, and the Royals have five entries.
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“He just wasn’t very good”, Royals manager Ned Yost said of Volquez.
For the Royals Cheslor Cuthbert doubled in a run, drove in a run with a ground out and hit a solo home run. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Volquez is second starter since the mound was moved to 60 feet, 6 inches in 1893 to allow 12 runs in an inning or less. His previous home run was August 21, 2015, at Boston. “So, it was just one of those nights where really nothing was working for him”. All three wound up scoring off reliever Dillon Gee, but the runs were charged to Volquez. The Astros plan on adding 3B A.J. Reed to the major league roster on Saturday.
Kansas City Royals left fielder Brett Eibner (12) catches a fly ball for an out in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., Friday, June 24, 2016. Mondesi, the Royals’ top prospect, was suspended 50 games on May 10 after testing positive for Clenbuterol, a performance-enhancing drug.
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LF Alex Gordon went 1-for-2 with three walks Friday with Triple-A Omaha. Volquez and company had managed to get back into the competition as the Chicago Whitesox have found their going a bit rougher. Chris Young takes the hill, and he’s 2-6 with a 5.61 ERA and 53 strikeouts this season.
