Astros explode in ninth to earn split with Royals

Kansas City trailed 7-1 in the fourth inning but completed its comeback with a four-run eighth.

Keuchel has been one big reason why the Astros have, by far, baseball's best record at 42-17. But it's back now. Keuchel was a late scratch with an illness after going out to warm up.

Aoki singled off Royals starter and 15-game victor Jason Hammel in the sixth for his 1,998th hit over the course of his career in Japan and the major leagues, then came around to score on a balk for the Astros' first run.

In the sixth, things got weird. Nori Aoki hit a ground ball single to left to lead off the inning and went to third on George Springer's single. The inning also included a two-run single by Jake Marisnick.

Just in case anybody needed another reason to confuse Jason Hammel with Luke Hochevar, he lost his focus and balked at the worst possible time.

Herrera retired only one of the five batters he faced and was charged with four runs, three hits and a walk. He was efficient with his pitches, needing just 85 of them to get 21 outs.

PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Lance McCullers Jr. McCullers did not allow a hit through the first six innings, but Lorenzo Cain broke the spell with a one-out triple in the seventh. Hell no he didn't!

Volquez (3-7) allowed three hits, struck out eight and walked two while winning his third straight start. $200 million my ass. Moustakas had four hits and three RBIs. It's their job to finish up those late tight games like that.

The contest then became a battle of the bullpens. Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Austin Brice.

He is 9-0 with a 1.67 ERA in 11 starts for the Astros, who have the best record in baseball. With such a sizable lead in the division, the Astros will probably be all right without Keuchel for a week-plus. Who cares. Here's the full Houston ninth inning, if you're curious: walk, homer, triple, sac fly, single, double, walk, single, out, out.

McCullers won four consecutive starts before not factoring in the decision against Texas in his last turn, as he struck out eight in 4 1/3 innings but yielded four runs - three earned - and six hits.

The Astros tacked on four more runs in the fourth. His ERA is up to 5.55.

Nationals 6, Orioles 1: Joe Ross had a career-high 12 strikeouts in a sparkling performance, and tired Washington breezed past visiting Baltimore.

I don't know what you do here. He is hoping rest will solve the issue. The over/under total for the game has been set at 8.5 runs. Kansas City rookie LHP Eric Skoglund and Padres RHP Jhoulys Chacin are the probables for the first game.