Kansas City Royals and Chicago Cubs play in game 2 of series

Jul 22, 2025, 04:02 am

Kansas City Royals (49-52, third in the AL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (59-41, second in the NL Central)

Chicago; Tuesday, 8:05 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Richard Hill (0-0); Cubs: Matthew Boyd (10-3, 2.34 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 102 strikeouts)

Cubs -260, Royals +209; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals lead 1-0 in a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs.

Chicago is 32-18 at home and 59-41 overall. The Cubs have the fourth-best team batting average in MLB play at .256.

Kansas City is 25-26 in road games and 49-52 overall. Royals pitchers have a collective 3.50 ERA, which ranks second in MLB play.

The teams play Tuesday for the second time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Tucker has 19 doubles, four triples and 18 home runs for the Cubs. Carson Kelly is 12 for 36 with three doubles, four home runs and five RBI over the last 10 games.

Bobby Witt Jr. has 14 home runs, 31 walks and 56 RBI while hitting .288 for the Royals. Salvador Perez is 15 for 36 with three doubles, seven home runs and 10 RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 5-5, .240 batting average, 4.66 ERA, outscored by 11 runs

Royals: 6-4, .268 batting average, 3.64 ERA, outscored opponents by 10 runs

INJURIES: Cubs: Pete Crow-Armstrong: day-to-day (knee), Porter Hodge: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Jameson Taillon: 15-Day IL (calf), Miguel Amaya: 10-Day IL (oblique), Eli Morgan: 60-Day IL (elbow), Javier Assad: 60-Day IL (oblique), Justin Steele: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Royals: Michael Lorenzen: 15-Day IL (oblique), Cole Ragans: 60-Day IL (rotator cuff), Mark Canha: 10-Day IL (elbow), Daniel Lynch: 15-Day IL (elbow), Michael Massey: 10-Day IL (ankle), Hunter Harvey: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow)

------

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.