Kansas City Royals (29-43, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Washington Nationals (37-35, third in the NL East)

Washington; Monday, 6:45 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Mitch Spence (0-0); Nationals: Andrew Alvarez (1-0, 3.70 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 26 strikeouts)

LINE: Nationals -142, Royals +119; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Nationals host the Kansas City Royals on Monday to start a three-game series.

Washington has a 37-35 record overall and a 14-21 record at home. The Nationals have gone 14-7 in games when they did not allow a home run.

Kansas City has gone 12-22 in road games and 29-43 overall. The Royals have the seventh-ranked team batting average in the AL at .242.

Monday's game is the first time these teams square off this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: James Wood has 20 home runs, 58 walks and 46 RBIs while hitting .281 for the Nationals. Daylen Lile is 12 for 38 with a double, two triples, a home run and nine RBIs over the last 10 games.

Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals with 29 extra base hits (19 doubles, a triple and nine home runs). Jac Caglianone is 15 for 34 with two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Nationals: 6-4, .258 batting average, 4.30 ERA, outscored opponents by 20 runs

Royals: 5-5, .282 batting average, 4.50 ERA, outscored opponents by one run

INJURIES: Nationals: Jake Irvin: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Trevor Williams: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ken Waldichuk: 60-Day IL (forearm), Josiah Gray: 60-Day IL (elbow), Max Kranick: 60-Day IL (elbow), DJ Herz: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Royals: Vinnie Pasquantino: 10-Day IL (hand), Kyle Isbel: 10-Day IL (foot), Seth Lugo: 7-Day IL (head), Cole Ragans: 15-Day IL (elbow), Jonathan India: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Kris Bubic: 15-Day IL (elbow), Nick Mears: 15-Day IL (shoulder), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow), Carlos Estevez: 15-Day IL (foot), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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