We will cut some slack for Framber Valdez after he took the loss last weekend vs. the Orioles. Valdez still didn't pitch too badly across five innings, but if anyone deserves a mulligan, it's him, as Houston had won in his previous ten starts, and his ERA since the start of July is a quite-respectable 2.48. On the other hand, we're not so inclined with KC's Seth Lugo, who seems to be running out of gas, with a 7.56 ERA across his last four starts, three of those being KC losses. They Royals might also be in the midst of a brief downturn after blowing a lead at Cleveland on Wednesday and a chance to go atop the AL Central. Play Astros on RL

Wasn't on my radar until I saw that KC's Vinnie Pasquantino ("hey Mr. Kotter!") and Lucas Erceg both left last night's loss injured -- on the same play. Losing either for an extended period would be crushing and both would be utterly devastating for the Royals. Vinnie P. is having a career season at .262 with 19 homers and a team-best 97 RBIs, while Erceg has been easily the team's best reliever since being acquired in trade. The Astros rallied last night to win (good for us) as soon as Erceg left. Tonight's starting pitcher Seth Lugo might be tiring as he's 2-3 with a 5.76 ERA this month.