Baltimore @ Kansas City preview

Last Meeting ( May 17, 2014 ) Baltimore 0, Kansas City 1

The Kansas City Royals continue to get solid outings from their starting pitchers, who stand third in the American League with a 3.38 ERA. James Shields will try to keep that going and earn the Royals a split in the finale of their four-game series against the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon. Danny Duffy took a perfect game into the seventh inning Saturday and Kansas City held on for a 1-0 victory after managing only one run in the first two games of the series.

Houston is the only team in the AL that has scored fewer runs than the Royals, whose RBI leader - Omar Infante - is on the disabled list. The Orioles have recorded only three more runs than Kansas City this season after tying for fifth in the majors in scoring a season ago. Nelson Cruz has collected seven RBIs in the last four games while Adam Jones is riding a 12-game hitting streak for Baltimore.

TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, MASN2 (Baltimore), FSN (Kansas City)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH Ubaldo Jimenez (2-4, 4.02 ERA) vs. Royals RH James Shields (5-3, 2.54)

Jimenez has turned his season around with three dazzling starts, allowing one run over 19 2/3 innings with 20 strikeouts and a pair of wins. The Dominican was 0-4 in his first five outings with the Orioles and has thrown a total of 332 pitches over the last three. Eric Hosmer is 9-for-23 with two homers against Jimenez, who is 4-3 with a 3.79 ERA in 10 career starts versus Kansas City.

Shields comes in with five victories in his last six turns, yielding only one run in 14 innings over the previous two outings. The 32-year-old Californian has struck out 56 and walked only 12 in 60 1/3 frames. Jones (13-for-42, one homer, five doubles) and Nick Markakis (20-for-68, two homers) have hit well against Shields, who is 10-7 with a 3.51 ERA in 25 career starts versus Baltimore.

WALK-OFFS

1. Baltimore 3B Manny Machado is starting to warm up, collecting eight hits in his last 28 at-bats to raise his average from .143 to .206.

2. Kansas City DH Billy Butler is 1-for-12 in the series but knocked in the winning run Saturday.

3. Orioles 1B Chris Davis, who led the majors with 53 homers last season, has been limited to three in 29 games in 2014.

PREDICTION: Royals 6, Orioles 1