Blue Jays open 3-game series against the Royals

Kansas City Royals (17-12, second in the AL Central) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (14-15, fourth in the AL East)

Toronto; Monday, 7:07 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Jonathan Bowlan (0-0); Blue Jays: Yariel Rodriguez (0-1, 3.86 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 15 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Blue Jays -147, Royals +124; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Toronto Blue Jays start a three-game series at home against the Kansas City Royals on Monday.

Toronto is 7-5 in home games and 14-15 overall. The Blue Jays have gone 5-3 in games when they did not give up a home run.

Kansas City has a 5-7 record in road games and a 17-12 record overall. The Royals have gone 6-2 in games when they hit at least two home runs.

The teams square off Monday for the fifth time this season. The Royals are up 3-1 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Daulton Varsho leads the Blue Jays with six home runs while slugging .500. George Springer is 9-for-40 with two doubles, a home run and an RBI over the last 10 games.

Maikel Garcia has four doubles, a triple and four home runs for the Royals. Salvador Perez is 13-for-35 with three doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 4-6, .212 batting average, 3.47 ERA, outscored by seven runs

Royals: 5-5, .222 batting average, 3.96 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs

INJURIES: Blue Jays: Bowden Francis: 15-Day IL (forearm), Kevin Kiermaier: 10-Day IL (hip), Chad Green: 15-Day IL (teres major), Alek Manoah: 15-Day IL (shoulder)

Royals: Alec Marsh: 15-Day IL (forearm), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (biceps), Jake Brentz: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Carlos Hernandez: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Kris Bubic: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kyle Wright: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press