HOUSTON (Interstat) — The Kansas City Royals will visit the Houston Astros on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, at Daikin Park in Houston, Texas. Kansas City will be the visiting team and Houston the home team. The game-time forecast calls for 89 degrees and clear skies. Kansas City enters 67-85. Houston enters 76-76. The game is the third of a three-game series.

Seth Lugo (7-8) is the probable pitcher for the Royals. Daniel Lynch IV is a player to watch for Kansas City. In his past five appearances, Lynch allowed two earned runs or fewer in four games. He worked five scoreless innings with two hits and three strikeouts Wednesday at Houston. He also allowed two earned runs over five innings with three strikeouts against Arizona on Sept. 9. He gave up five earned runs over five innings against Toronto on Sept. 4. He allowed two earned runs over 3 1/3 innings at Cleveland on Aug. 29 and two earned runs over 4 1/3 innings against Detroit on Aug. 23.

Cristian Javier is a player to watch for Houston. He allowed two earned runs over 5 1/3 innings with two strikeouts against Kansas City on Wednesday. He gave up one earned run over six innings with five strikeouts at Philadelphia on Sept. 10. He allowed three earned runs over 4 1/3 innings at the New York Mets on Aug. 29 and three earned runs over four innings with eight strikeouts against the Athletics on Aug. 23.

Kansas City won the most recent meeting, 5-2, on Wednesday. Michael Massey went 3-for-5 with a home run and one RBI for the Royals. John Rave went 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs. Yainer Diaz went 2-for-4 with a home run and one RBI for Houston, and Bryan King pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings with one hit and one strikeout. Houston won 4-2 on Tuesday. In June at Kansas City, Houston won 10-8 on June 12 and 8-7 on June 13, and Kansas City won 4-0 on June 14.

Kansas City will visit Pittsburgh for three games Sept. 18-20, host the Chicago White Sox for three games Sept. 22-24 and host Cleveland for three games Sept. 25-27. Houston will host Atlanta for three games Sept. 18-20, visit Seattle for two games Sept. 22-23 and visit the Athletics for four games Sept. 24-27.

Interstat’s game simulator projects Houston 4, Kansas City 3. Interstat’s ELO system gives Houston a 56.6 percent probability to win. Houston is a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The over-under is 8.5.