George Kirby: Everything you need to know

Kirby (5-4) took the loss Saturday against the Royals, allowing five runs (three earned) on nine hits and no walks in six innings. He struck out three. After giving up a season-worst six runs in his last start against the Padres, Kirby put together a solid bounce-back effort on the road Saturday. The Royals jumped on the right-hander for three runs in the first inning, but a throwing error by Cole Young kept a pair of earned runs off Kirby's ledger in what was the hurler's sixth quality start this year. Kirby will bring a steady 3.54 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and 55:16 K:BB across 68.2 innings into his next scheduled outing against Arizona.

Kirby (5-3) took the loss Sunday, allowing six runs on six hits and two walks over 5.2 innings against San Diego. He struck out six. Kirby was uncharacteristically knocked around Sunday, surrendering a pair of homers to Gavin Sheets as part of a season-worst six-run outing. The 28-year-old hurler entered the day with a 2.84 ERA that has since risen to 3.45 to pair with a 1.18 WHIP and 52:16 K:BB across 62.2 innings (10 starts). He'll look to bounce back his next time out, which is tentatively scheduled for Saturday against Kansas City.

Kirby (5-2) earned the win Monday, allowing one run on seven hits and two walks over five innings in a 3-1 win over Houston. He struck out seven. Kirby allowed some traffic but largely kept the Houston offense in check, generating 12 whiffs and tallying a season-high seven strikeouts en route to the victory. Monday marked the right-hander's shortest outing of the campaign, as he's a workhorse that consistently works into the sixth inning and beyond. Kirby has been a pillar of consistency, posting a 2.84 ERA and 1.16 WHIP with a 46:14 K:BB across 57 innings (nine starts). He'll look to stay in the win column in his next outing, tentatively scheduled for Sunday against San Diego.