Kansas City @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 21, 2015 ) Boston 13, Kansas City 2

The American League’s last two World Series representatives will meet up this weekend when the Kansas City Royals visit the Boston Red Sox for the opener of a four-game series on Thursday. The Royals are well on their way to a second straight trip to the playoffs while the Red Sox are well on their way to a second straight last-place finish.

Boston made a move to change course with the hiring of Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations, and he watched the future on his first day as Jackie Bradley Jr. and Travis Shaw homered in a 6-4 win over the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday. Bradley and Shaw are two of several young players who have sparked the offense to a total of 62 runs in the first six games of the 10-game homestand. The Royals have won five straight and 10 of 12 and just wrapped up a two-game sweep of Cincinnati to extend their lead in the AL Central to 14 1/2 games. The teams will match lefties in the opener as the Red Sox turn to Wade Miley and Danny Duffy gets the start for Kansas City.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSN Kansas City, NESN (Boston)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals LH Danny Duffy (6-5, 4.03 ERA) vs. Red Sox LH Wade Miley (9-9, 4.58)

Duffy is struggling with his consistency of late but turned in a strong outing on Friday, when he held the Los Angeles Angels to one runs and five hits in six innings to earn a win. The 26-year-old has allowed one or no runs in five of his last seven starts but was reached for a total of eight runs in 9 1/3 innings over the other two. Duffy is looking for his first career win against Boston, owning a 0-2 record with a 5.23 ERA in four career starts.

Miley snapped a seven-start winless streak against Seattle on Saturday, yielding two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out eight in seven frames. The Louisiana native has had his own problems with consistency and allowed two or fewer runs in four of his last seven starts while surrendering at least five in each of the other three. Miley was sharp at Kansas City on June 21, scattering five hits over six scoreless innings in a win.

WALK-OFFS

1. Red Sox DH David Ortiz (492) needs one home run to tie Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff for 27th on the all-time list.

2. Royals 2B/LF Ben Zobrist is 13-for-23 with seven runs scored during a six-game hitting streak.

3. Kansas City 2B Omar Infante (back spasms) was held out of the starting lineup in Cincinnati but could return on Thursday.

PREDICTION: Royals 5, Red Sox 4