Duffy looks for improvement in second start since rejoining Royals

Dallas Keuchel has leveled out some after a six-start stretch that bordered on incredible to begin the season, but opponents still haven't done much to his stellar home numbers.

Nearly all of the balancing has happened on the road, and the left-hander has a shot at pitching the Houston Astros to a series win over the AL-leading Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park.

Keuchel (9-3, 2.17 ERA) is coming off his third complete game and second shutout of the season, surrendering six hits while striking out a career-high 12 in Thursday's 4-0 home win over the New York Yankees.

What may have been his best start of the season followed what was likely his worst when he allowed five runs and five hits -- three home runs -- in six innings of a 6-3 loss in Seattle on June 20.

"I wanted to take a step back and relax a little coming out of the gate and find my groove," Keuchel said.

He's an MLB-leading 7-0 with an AL-best 1.39 ERA in nine home starts and he's unbeaten in his last 12 at Minute Maid. It's the top home streak for an Astros pitcher since Brett Myers went unbeaten in his first 16 home starts with the club from April 7, 2010-April 17, 2011.

The reason might be that he's kept the ball in the park, surrendering no home runs in Houston in 86 2/3 innings over the 12-start span.

He's 1-0 with a 4.26 ERA in two career starts against the Royals, both at home. Alex Rios is 8 for 20 against him and Eric Hosmer is 4 for 6, but it seems unlikely he'll face the latter.

Hosmer missed Monday's 6-1 loss along with Alcides Escobar, and the first baseman isn't expected to appear in the series because of a sprained finger. Escobar was out with a bruised finger.

The Astros (45-34) have allowed two runs and seven hits in their last two games, and they've won four straight against the Royals (44-29) by a combined 27-6.

Salvador Perez went deep for a second straight game as Kansas City's four-game winning streak came to an end.

Chris Carter and Jose Altuve homered for the second time in three games for the Astros, who played without Colby Rasmus for a third straight contest because of an infected bug bite. The outfielder won't return Tuesday, though that might not be such a bad thing because he's 0 for 5 with four strikeouts against Danny Duffy.

The Royals are looking to Duffy (2-3, 5.44) to help the rotation improve on a 5.81 ERA over the last 10 games, though he was quite hittable in his first start back from more than a month off because of a shoulder injury.

The left-hander gave up two runs -- one earned -- and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings of Wednesday's 8-2 win in Seattle. He's 0-3 with a 9.42 ERA over his last four outings, though this was the best of the bunch after he walked 10 batters in his previous two.

"Yeah, the no walks, that's a good starting point," Duffy told MLB's official website. "Got my pitch count up a little too fast but overall it all felt pretty good."

He's 1-1 with a 7.50 ERA in two starts against Houston with Carter and George Springer each going 1 for 2 with a home run and two walks.