Royals look to finish road sweep of Rangers

The Kansas City Royals will look for a sweep of their three-game series with Texas when they clash with the Rangers on Thursday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.

The Royals will send Michael Wacha (3-6, 3.38 ERA) to the mound to start. The Rangers will go with fellow right-hander Shawn Armstrong (2-1, 2.90) in an expected bullpen game.

The Royals, who carried a six-game losing streak into the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for this series, have taken the first two games of the set. Maikel Garcia was the standout on Wednesday in a 6-3 win with a three-run home run and a clutch run-scoring triple to back the pitching of Kris Bubic and four relievers.

Texas had 12 hits, three each by Sam Haggerty and Evan Carter, but was 5 of 13 with runners in scoring position and dropped its second straight contest. The Rangers had captured four straight games and seven of eight before the start of this series.

Wacha has not won in his past five starts -- since May 12 at home against Houston -- and carries a two-game losing streak into play Thursday. His most recent outing, at home versus the Athletics on Friday, was statistically his worst of the season; he allowed five runs on nine hits (both season worsts) in 5 1/3 innings while walking two and striking out five in a game the Royals dropped 6-4.

"Wanted more than anything to get back in that win column," Wacha said after the loss. "Felt like I let the team down."

Wacha is 0-3 with a 4.74 ERA in four career starts against the Rangers. He's allowed 10 runs on 20 hits and six walks with 16 strikeouts over 19 innings in those appearances. Wacha lost both of his starts against Texas last season.

On Wednesday, the Royals announced they will shelve All-Star left-hander Cole Ragans for four weeks with a mild rotator cuff strain. The team has opted to rest Ragans, who last pitched on June 5, instead of resorting to surgery or even injections.

The Rangers' rotation has been shortened by injuries to Tyler Mahle and Nathan Eovaldi. Mahle's stint on the 15-day injured list for shoulder fatigue began June 12, but he's already eager to get back on the mound.

"We're just trying to get it to rest up and to get back to 100 percent like it had been," Mahle said about his shoulder. "I felt good leading up (to his last start) that whole week. All of the sudden, it didn't feel right. That part of it is really frustrating, but I've just got to get through it."

Armstrong, Texas' starter on Thursday, is 1-0 with a 4.05 ERA in 16 appearances against the Royals in his career.

The Rangers struggle in low-scoring games but have one of the best records in MLB when amassing four or more runs. They are 26-4 in that situation, including 16-0 at home.