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Jun 17, 2010 - 5:49 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Houston (26-40) at Kansas City (28-38), 8:10 p.m. EDT

A visit to Kansas City has left the Houston Astros on the verge of some rare interleague success.

After snapping a lengthy losing streak against AL opponents, the Astros have a chance to take the series with a second straight win over the Royals on Thursday night.

Jason Michaels had three RBIs and Roy Oswalt pitched seven innings as Houston (26-40) ended a six-game interleague skid with a 4-2 victory Wednesday.

Interleague play as been rough on the Astros this season. They won their opener against Tampa Bay, but dropped the last two of the May 21-23 set and were swept at Yankee Stadium last weekend.

Houston, however, bounced back from Tuesday's 15-7 loss to the Royals despite recording five hits Wednesday.

"That was important, especially after a crazy night like (Tuesday) night," said Michaels, who is 4 for 8 with five RBIs in the series and a lifetime .300 hitter against Kansas City.

The Astros are 10-4 at Kauffman Stadium.

After a solid effort from Oswalt, Brett Myers (4-4, 3.18 ERA) looks to rebound from his first defeat in a month when he faces the Royals for the first time.

The right-hander yielded three of the four runs he allowed in the first inning of a 4-3 loss to the Yankees on Friday. Myers, though, lasted seven innings in that game and has gone 2-1 with a 2.41 ERA in his last five starts.

"Losing is not fun, but I've got to be able to be better than that in the first inning," he told the Astros' official website.

Myers is 6-6 with a 5.77 ERA in 20 interleague starts.

David DeJesus has never faced Myers, but will look to continue his hot hitting against Houston.

The Kansas City outfielder is 7 for 10 in the series after going 4 for 4 on Wednesday. DeJesus, 10 for 13 in his last three games, is a lifetime .436 hitter in 11 games against the Astros.

Kansas City (28-38), 4-2 in its last six, called up Anthony Lerew from Triple-A Omaha to start Thursday. The move was made after the Royals placed Luke Hochevar on the disabled list with a strained right elbow Wednesday.

"I'll have the adrenaline going," Lerew told the Royals' official website.

Lerew, 5-3 with a 2.84 ERA at Omaha, went 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA in two starts for the Royals last season. The right-hander allowed three runs in two innings of a 13-3 loss at Boston in his lone interleague start May 19, 2007.

Kansas City is 4-4 in interleague play this season.