By admin 
The Houston Astros surged past the Texas Rangers and into first place in the American League West on July 31 and owned a three-game lead in the division race as recently as last Friday.
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But following their 5-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday, the Astros (76-76) dropped into a tie with the Rangers (76-76) atop the division with 10 games remaining in the regular season.
Heading into the finale of their three-game series against the visiting Royals on Thursday night, the Astros own the tiebreaker over Texas by virtue of winning the season series, but there is a sense of urgency for Houston nonetheless.
“We’ve got to win (Thursday),” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Start with that.”
Houston should start with better production from its lineup.
Leadoff hitter Jeremy Pena posted his second consecutive three-hit game on Wednesday, but after failing to generate an at-bat with runners in scoring position on Tuesday, the Astros finished 0-for-9 on Wednesday.
Yainer Diaz, who homered leading off the ninth in the loss, is the only other Astros starter with a multi-hit game in the series.
“We just need to stretch that production further down the lineup,” Espada said. “Just try to get more guys down at the bottom to get more hits with runners in scoring position.
“We’re going to continue to work with those guys and try to work on our approach and try to make some adjustments because we just need to score early and put some pressure (on the opposing pitcher). We’re waiting until the end of the game to put our better at-bats (together).”
Miguel Ullola (0-0, 3.38 ERA) is likely to serve as the Astros’ opener on Thursday. He pitched a perfect first inning as the opener in his team’s 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays last Friday, while fellow rookie right-hander Ethan Pecko worked as the bulk pitcher, allowing one run, one hit and two walks with four strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.
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Neither pitcher has faced the Royals in their careers.
Right-hander Seth Lugo (7-8, 4.99 ERA) will start the series finale for the Royals (67-85).
Lugo earned the win in a 3-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox last Friday, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out seven over five innings. He has just one loss over his last seven starts, going 3-1 despite a 7.13 ERA.
Lugo is 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA across five career starts against the Astros. In his previous start against Houston on April 25, 2025, he allowed three hits and issued one walk while striking out eight over eight shutout innings in a 2-0 victory.
Royals reliever Lucas Erceg worked a perfect seventh inning in the series opener Tuesday in a 4-2 Houston victory in his first appearance since being recalled from Triple-A Omaha. Erceg, whose 12 saves lead the club, had been demoted following a prolonged stretch of troubles that included an 11-game streak of allowing at least one baserunner and a 10.38 ERA during that stretch.
The perfect frame on Tuesday was Erceg’s first since July 9. Before Tuesday, his previous appearance with the Royals came on Aug. 17.
“Why wouldn’t you be disappointed? That’s what we expected,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Erceg, who initially expressed frustration with his demotion. “It was not an easy message to deliver; it was not fun to have him go down. He’s been such a big part of what we’ve done and what we expect to do going forward.
“For him to understand it and dive right into what he needed to work on and execute those things, to have the success that he did, I think that’s exactly all we could have hoped for.”
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–Field Level Media
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This story was originally published September 17, 2026 at 4:27 AM.