First pitch: Thursday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: Houston +125, Kansas City -135, Total: 7.5

The Royals host the Astros in Game 1 of this division series matchup on Thursday, and the team will be desperately trying to change the ending of last year’s World Series loss.

The Astros went into Yankee Stadium on Tuesday and came away with a 3-0 victory to earn a spot in this series against the Royals. Houston has won seven of its past nine games heading into this contest and its young team now has a bit of an understanding of what it is like to play in the postseason after playing in the wildcard game. Kansas City, meanwhile, won its last five regular season games and will be motivated to win this World Series more than any other team after coming so close a year ago. The Astros got the better of the Royals in their head-to-head series this season, winning four of the six games they played. Starting for Houston in Game 1 is going to be RHP Collin McHugh (19-7, 3.89 ERA, 171 K) and RHP Yordano Ventura (13-8, 4.08 ERA, 156 K) will be on the mound for Kansas City. The Astros are 21-9 against the money line in games played on grass this season when McHugh is on the mound. The Royals, however, are 34-14 against the money line at home with a money line of -100 to -150 this season. Houston is at nearly full strength coming into this series and Kansas City is without 2B Omar Infante (Oblique) indefinitely.

Collin McHugh will be taking the ball in Game 1 for the Astros and he looked good in his last start of the season, pitching seven innings of one-run ball and striking out six batters against the Diamondbacks on Oct. 3. McHugh is, however, prone to some rough outings and allowed four or more runs in three of his final five starts on the year. He’ll need to keep his composure in what will be one of the biggest starts of his entire career. The bats that showed up in the wildcard game were 2B Jose Altuve (.313, 15 HR, 66 RBI), OF Carlos Gomez (.255, 12 HR, 56 RBI) and OF Colby Rasmus (.238, 25 HR, 61 RBI). Both Gomez and Rasmus hit solo shots in the game and Altuve hit an RBI single to make it 3-0 in the top of the seventh inning. Altuve and Gomez will need to continue to make pitchers uncomfortable the remainder of the playoffs. SS Carlos Correa (.279, 22 HR, 68 RBI) will need to be better for the Astros in this series. He was 0-for-4 against the Yankees and the team is counting on him to produce at the plate. RP Mark Melancon (51 SV, 2.23 ERA) will have his number called at some point in this series and he has not allowed a run in his past three appearances. He must continue to be lights out, especially at this time of the year.

The Royals were one of the best teams in baseball all season long and they believe that they have what it takes to take care of their unfinished business this postseason. Yordano Ventura will be on the mound for this pivotal Game 1 and he finished the year strong, allowing just one earned run with 17 strikeouts in his final two starts (14.0 IP). In Ventura’s only start against the Astros, he allowed just one earned in seven innings of work in a home start on Jul. 26. Everybody in the Royals organization would be extremely pleased with that type of performance on Thursday. Offensively, it’ll be on OF Lorenzo Cain (.307, 16 HR, 72 RBI) to set the tone for this team. He had a magnificent regular season and was great in last year’s playoffs as well. He must get on base and drive in runs when he gets the chance. The other guys that must really come to life in the playoffs are 2B Ben Zobrist and 1B Eric Hosmer (.297, 18 HR, 93 RBI). Zobrist had his ups and downs this season, but he is very experienced and makes winnings plays. He was thought to be one of the missing pieces for this team last year and will be trying to prove that correct beginning in this series. Hosmer, meanwhile, is one of this team’s most dangerous hitters when runners are in scoring position. The Royals will be counting on him in this one.