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Royals look to conclude road trip with win

May 20, 2007 - 1:36 PM Kansas City (16-28) at Colorado (18-25) 3:05 pm EDT

DENVER (Ticker) -- Despite the fact that the Kansas City Royals own the worst record in the American League, they are starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.

The Royals will look to finish with a winning record on their 10-game road trip on Sunday when they play the finale of a three-game set against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

In winning five of its first nine games on this trip, Kansas City has benefited from strong pitching and some unexpected production from some hitters. Emil Brown, who is hitting .303 with seven RBI in 11 May games after batting just .186 with five RBI in 22 April contests, and Esteban German are both hitting .320 (8-for-25) on the trip.

The Royals' rotation has posted a 3.01 ERA in the nine games, although they surrendered six runs - the most they have allowed on the trip - against the Rockies on Saturday that ended their season-high three-game winning streak.

Kansas City will hope for a continuation of the strong pitching from Brian Bannister (0-2, 4.15 ERA), who is still looking for his first win as a Royal. Even though the team has lost all four games this season started by the righthander, Bannister is coming off his best effort of the season as he yielded two runs and five hits over six innings in a 5-4, 11-inning loss at Oakland on Tuesday.

Bannister, who has split time between Kansas City and Triple-A Omaha, will pitch against Colorado for the first time.

The Rockies will counter with Jason Hirsch (2-4, 3.99), who is 0-3 with a 4.88 ERA in his last three outings for Colorado. He was on the wrong end of a combined three-hitter when he allowed three runs over seven innings in a 3-0 loss to Arizona on Tuesday.

The righthander is making his first career interleague start.