Mets and Royals play to determine series winner

Kansas City Royals (10-5, first in the AL Central) vs. New York Mets (6-8, third in the NL East)

New York; Sunday, 1:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Cole Ragans (0-1, 2.60 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 21 strikeouts); Mets: Jose Butto (0-0)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Royals -128, Mets +109; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The New York Mets and Kansas City Royals meet on Sunday with the winner claiming the three-game series.

New York has gone 2-6 in home games and 6-8 overall. The Mets have a 3-6 record in games when they have allowed a home run.

Kansas City has a 10-5 record overall and a 2/3 record on the road. Royals hitters are batting a collective .261, which ranks third in the AL.

Sunday's game is the third time these teams square off this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Starling Marte has a double, two home runs and four RBI for the Mets. Pete Alonso is 12-for-42 with a double and five home runs over the last 10 games.

Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals with four home runs while slugging .710. Salvador Perez is 14-for-40 with a double, two home runs and nine RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Mets: 6-4, .269 batting average, 4.20 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs

Royals: 8-2, .276 batting average, 3.03 ERA, outscored opponents by 33 runs

INJURIES: Mets: Kodai Senga: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tylor Megill: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Max Kranick: 15-Day IL (undisclosed), Sean Reid-Foley: 15-Day IL (shoulder), David Peterson: 60-Day IL (hip), Ronny Mauricio: 60-Day IL (knee)

Royals: Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (biceps), Jake Brentz: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Michael Massey: 10-Day IL (back), 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.