First pitch: Friday, 3:45 p.m. ET
AL Division Series – Game 2
Line: Houston +125, Kansas City -140, Total: 7.5

The Royals will be looking to avoid a 2-0 series deficit when they host the Astros in Game 2 on Friday.

The Astros came out of the dugout ready to play in Game 1, jumping up 2-0 on the Royals after the first inning. Houston would go on to win 5-2 in a game that featured a rain delay that forced RHP Yordano Ventura out of the game after just two innings of work. The Astros, meanwhile, left RHP Collin McHugh in after the delay and he pitched spectacularly. The starters in this game are going to be LHP Scott Kazmir (7-11, 3.10 ERA, 155 K) for the Astros and RHP Johnny Cueto (11-13, 3.44 ERA, 176 K) for the Royals. Houston will be confident playing against any team in this postseason, as the Astros went 21-7 against the money line versus teams with a win percentage of 54% to 62% on the season. The Royals, however, are 40-21 against the money line versus AL teams allowing 4.2 or less runs per game on the year. The Astros are not currently dealing with any significant injuries in their lineup and the Royals will only be hampered by the loss of 2B Omar Infante (Oblique) this series.

Scott Kazmir will be on the mound for the Astros in Game 2 and he can put the team in a really good situation if he is able to put forth a solid effort on Friday. Kazmir enters this postseason after really struggling to finish out the year, allowing 13 earned runs in his final 11.2 innings of work (three starts). One thing that bodes well for the starter is that he was dominant the last time he pitched in Kansas City. Kazmir faced the Royals there on Jul. 24 and pitched seven innings of scoreless baseball. He’ll need to try to put his most recent outings behind him and focus on what he did well against Kansas City last time. One guy that has really stepped up for Houston in the postseason is OF Colby Rasmus (.238, 25 HR, 61 RBI). Rasmus has homered in each of the two playoff games his team has played in and his experience with the Cardinals in the 2009 playoffs is showing here. 2B Jose Altuve and OF George Springer also performed very well at the plate in Game 1. Altuve went 3-for-5 with an RBI and Springer went 2-for-4 with a homer. The Astros will, however, need SS Carlos Correa to break out of his slump. He is 1-for-9 in his first two playoff games and must settle down and not let nerves get the best of him.

The Royals will be desperate for a victory in Game 2 and performing in situations like these is the reason that this team brought in Johnny Cueto. Cueto has struggled since joining this team, going just 4-7 with a 4.76 ERA since being acquired. He will need to have a short memory, as the Royals need him to forget everything that happened in the regular season and start pitching like the ace they thought they had acquired. One good sign is that Cueto did pitch well in his final start of the regular season, allowing just one earned run and striking out four batters in a 6-1 victory over the Twins on Oct. 4. He pitched five innings in that game, but his team will need him to work further into this one. DH Kendrys Morales (.290, 22 HR, 106 RBI) kept the Royals in Game 1 with two solo homers. The team will be relying on him to continue to provide power the rest of the postseason. 1B Eric Hosmer (.297, 18 HR, 93 RBI), however, will need to be a lot better for this team. He was 0-for-4 in Game 1 and needs to cash in when there are runners in scoring position moving forward.