First pitch: Monday, 8:35 p.m. ET
AL Division Series – Game 5
I wLine: Houston +125, Kansas City -135, Total: 7.5

The Royals will be looking to advance to their second straight AL Championship Series with a home win over the Astros on Wednesday.

The Astros seemingly had this series won, leading 6-2 heading into the top of the eighth inning in Monday’s Game 4 meeting in Houston. The Royals would end up rallying to score five runs in the top of the eighth and ended up winning the game 9-6 after scoring a pair of runs in the top of the ninth as well. Kansas City has all of the momentum heading into this win or go home matchup, but counting out this Houston team is something that people did all season and it hasn’t made them look anything but foolish. The starters in this game are going to be RHP Collin McHugh (20-7, 3.69 ERA, 172 K) for the Astros and RHP Johnny Cueto (11-13, 3.51 ERA, 181 K) for the Royals. Houston is 16-7 against the money line with McHugh on the mound as an underdog of +100 to +150 over the past two seasons. Cueto’s teams, meanwhile, are 20-6 against the money line at home when the total is 7 to 7.5 over the past two seasons. The Astros will be entering this game with nobody in their starting lineup on the injury report and C Salvador Perez (Head) is probably for the Royals, who are without 2B Omar Infante (Oblique) indefinitely.

The Astros really let the series slip away in Game 4, but they must regroup and find a way to be competitive in this Game 5 meeting in Kansas City. Collin McHugh pitched very well in his only start in this series, pitching six innings and allowing just two earned runs on four hits. He earned a victory for the Astros in Game 1 and the team will be hoping for the same exact result on Wednesday. Offensively, SS Carlos Correa (.279, 22 HR, 68 RBI) and 2B Jose Altuve (.313, 15 HR, 66 RBI) will need to carry this team to a victory in Game 5. Correa was 4-for-4 with two homers in what should have been the series clinching game on Monday, but he must forget that and come through once again in this one. Altuve, meanwhile, must look at this like he has another chance to produce for his team on Wednesday. He is hitless in the past three games and that will have to change if Houston is going to find a way to advance.

Johnny Cueto will be toeing the rubber for the Royals in Game 5 and he will be looking to be much better than he was in Game 2 on Friday. Cueto allowed four earned runs on seven hits in just six innings in that game and will need to do a better job of missing bats on Wednesday. He has been a big game pitcher in his career and will be looking to show fans why the Royals acquired him in the first place. On the offensive side of things, the Royals have used a balanced attack in this series. OF Lorenzo Cain (.307, 16 HR, 72 RBI) and 1B Eric Hosmer (.297, 18 HR, 93 RBI), however, are two guys that must be ready to hit on Wednesday. Cain is yet to have a multi-hit game in this series and the Royals will be hoping that he has saved it for this crucial game. Hosmer, meanwhile, came up huge in Game 4 with a homer and three RBI in the victory.