Thompson scheduled to start as Chicago hosts Kansas City

Kansas City Royals (53-68, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (54-70, fourth in the NL Central)

Chicago; Saturday, 2:20 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Kris Bubic (3-6, 5.09 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, 73 strikeouts) Cubs: Keegan Thompson (3-2, 2.21 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 43 strikeouts)

LINE: Cubs -115, Royals -102; over/under is even

BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals head to play the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.

The Cubs are 31-29 on their home turf. Chicago's lineup has 154 home runs this season, Patrick Wisdom leads them with 19 homers.

The Royals are 21-37 on the road. Kansas City hitters have posted a team on-base percentage of .301 this season, led by Nicky Lopez with a mark of .342.

The Royals won the last meeting 6-2. Brad Keller recorded his eighth victory and Salvador Perez went 2-for-3 with two home runs and two RBI for Kansas City. Zach Davies took his 10th loss for Chicago.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ian Happ is second on the Cubs with 62 hits and has 35 RBI.

Whit Merrifield leads the Royals with 131 hits and is batting .270.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 2-8, .263 batting average, 7.71 ERA, outscored by 40 runs

Royals: 5-5, .262 batting average, 4.45 ERA, outscored by 10 runs

INJURIES: Cubs: Brad Wieck: (heart), Kohl Stewart: (elbow), Dillon Maples: (blister), Jonathan Holder: (shoulder), Adbert Alzolay: (hamstring), Nick Madrigal: (hamstring), Nico Hoerner: (oblique), Jose Lobaton: (shoulder), P.J. Higgins: (forearm), Willson Contreras: (knee).

Royals: Kyle Zimmer: (neck/trap), Greg Holland: (shoulder), Jesse Hahn: (shoulder), Ronald Bolanos: (flexor), Hunter Dozier: (illness), Adalberto Mondesi: (oblique).

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