Kansas City @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 7, 2011 ) Kansas City 11, San Diego 3

THE STORY: Kansas City looks to continue its climb out of the American League Central basement when it begins a three-game interleague series at San Diego on Monday night. The Royals won their final two weekend contests against the Chicago Cubs to draw even with Minnesota for last place. San Diego, meanwhile, remains one game back of Los Angeles at the bottom of the NL West after topping Atlanta, 4-1, on Sunday.

TV: 10:05 p.m. ET, Fox Sports (Kansas City), Channel 4 (San Diego)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals LH Jeff Francis (3-8, 4.76 ERA) vs. Padres RH Mat Latos (4-8, 4.22 ERA)

Francis has a pair of quality starts in June, including a tough loss to Arizona in his last outing June 22 (7 IP, 5 H, 3 ER). Six days earlier, he lasted just 3 1/3 innings at Oakland, allowing six runs on nine hits. Francis has faced San Diego more than any other team in his career, and he has not fared particularly well, going 5-12 with a 5.66 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP in 21 starts.

Latos had been pitching well into early June, allowing just seven runs over a span of 25 innings, but he has been less sharp in his last two starts, giving up four earned runs in each while failing to finish the sixth inning. He has been much better in home games this season, posting an ERA of 3.50 with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 44:15, but he is just 2-5 in eight starts due to a lack of run support. This will be Latos' first career start against the Royals.

ABOUT THE ROYALS (33-45): Winning two games in a row hasn't been a problem for Kansas City — 12 of the Royals' past 15 victories have come as part of a pair. Stringing more than two wins together, on the other hand, has been difficult. Kansas City hasn't won more than two in a row since taking four straight between April 29 and May 3. At that time, the Royals were second in the American League Central, but with a 13-27 record since May 12, they have long been forgotten as a contender. The starting outfield of Alex Gordon, Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francoeur has driven in 133 of the team's 342 runs.

ABOUT THE PADRES (34-45): San Diego's pitching staff has done its part, ranking sixth in the major leagues in ERA, but only two teams in baseball have scored fewer runs than the Padres (273). With the exception of 3B Chase Headley (.296), no San Diego regular is batting better than .257, and only LF Ryan Ludwick (nine) has hit more than five home runs this season. The starting pitchers have been the greatest victims of the offensive shortcomings — despite earned-run averages of 3.03 and 3.09, respectively, Dustin Moseley and Tim Stauffer are a combined 5-12 this season.

FINAL PITCH: Kansas City closer Joakim Soria has been virtually untouchable in the month of June, allowing just four hits in 12 innings. He has converted all six of his save opportunities this month after blowing three straight at the end of May and temporarily losing his job.