8* Milwaukee (8:10 ET): Kansas City has made a bit of a surprising surge, winning seven of its last eight ball games. I had them Wednesday when they downed the Tigers 4-0, which was their third shutout victory in the last seven games! But coming off consecutive series vs. lightweights Detroit & Pittsburgh, I think the Royals are in for a bit of a “rude awakening” tonight in Milwaukee as they face a Brewers team that has also posted three shutout wins in its L9 games including one the last time they took the field.

The Brew Crew just gone done playing a five-game series with St. Louis which featured two doubleheaders. It should be noted that the teams split both twin bills, but Milwaukee won the one “standalone” game, 18-3. Like the Royals, Milwaukee had Thursday off, which was much needed after playing five games in three days. Unlike the Royals, the Brewers are still very much alive in the playoff race. They should be the more motivated team this weekend.

While Friday starter Adrian Houser is not responsible for any of the Brewers’ three recent shutouts, I do think he’ll pitch well tonight. That might sound like a “leap of faith” considering recent efforts (he’s 0-5 L7 starts) including him being on the WRONG end of a 12-0 loss to the Cubs last Saturday. But five of the seven runs charged to Houser in that one were unearned. Danny Duffy goes for the Royals and it will be interesting to see how he does given an unexpected three extra days off between starts. Duffy was supposed to start Tuesday, but missed the team plane and thus got himself scratched. The bottom line is that KC is just 2-9 this season as a ML road dog of +125 to +175. They are 19-42 in that same range the L3 seasons. 8* Milwaukee