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Red-hot Yankees' lineup visits Kansas City

Jul 23, 2007 - 2:15 PM NY Yankees (51-46) at Kansas City (43-54) 8:10 pm EDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- One cannot blame the Kansas City Royals' pitching staff if it is a little anxious about dealing with the lineup of the New York Yankees in the opener of a four-game series Monday.

The Yankees are coming off three consecutive wins against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays since Saturday, outscoring their American League East foe by a run total of 45-12.

Kansas City's Odalis Perez (5-8, 5.84 ERA) has the unenviable task of facing the Yankees, who hit six home runs in Sunday's 21-4 thrashing of Tampa Bay. Perez is 1-1 over his last three starts despite a 7.45 ERA in 15 2/3 innings during that span.

Perhaps more bad news for the Royals is that Roger Clemens (2-4, 3.88) will be on the mound for New York. In 33 career starts against the Royals, Clemens is 20-6 with a 2.15 ERA.

The 44-year-old righthander last pitched here on June 17, 2005 when he tossed six scoreless innings during a 7-0 win by the Houston Astros.

Two home runs shy of reaching 500 for his career, New York's Alex Rodriguez is batting .312 (128-for-410) with 30 home runs in his career against the Royals, who have won four of their last five games.