Opponent: Kansas City Royals (19-49).

Site: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City.

Times: 8:10 p.m. today and tomorrow, 2:10 p.m. Thursday.

TV, radio: Tonight and tomorrow night on FSN Pittsburgh, all games on KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network.

Starting matchups: RHP Kip Wells (0-0, 0.00) vs. LHP Mark Redman (3-4, 5.68), RHP Ian Snell (7-4, 4.71) vs. RHP Mike Wood (3-2, 4.69) and LHP Paul Maholm (2-5, 4.50) vs. RHP Scott Elarton (2-8, 5.09).

Season series: Only meeting.

Three things to know about the Royals: 1. They are bad. "It's definitely been difficult for us," Elarton said. "We've had our struggles. You name it, we've done it badly." 2. Redman, traded to the Royals by the Pirates in the winter, has won his past three starts. He pitched eight innings in each of his past two starts, yielding a total of five runs. 3. Outfielder Emil Brown, who spent 1997-2001 with the Pirates, last season finally emerged as a player. He hit .286 with 17 home runs and 86 RBIs. This season, he's .270, 5, 29.

The Pirates' key to success: Throw strikes. The Royals are last in the major leagues in home runs (50). Reggie Sanders has a team-high nine home runs.

The intangible: Will the Royals continue their propensity to give up the long ball? They rank first in one category. They lead the major leagues in home runs allowed (97).

On deck: Three games in Los Angeles and Jim Tracy's return to Dodger Stadium.