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HOUSTON — One obvious benefit of a club-record-tying 12-game winning streak and 13 victories in 14 games is the positive impact it has on the standings Josh Jones Jersey , something the Houston Astros could attest to before dropping the opener of a three-game set with the Kansas City Royals on Friday.

On June 5, the Astros (50-27) were the scuffling team, falling two games behind the Seattle Mariners in the American League West with a 7-1 loss, their seventh setback over 10 games. The entered this weekend 3 1/2 games ahead of the Mariners and maintained that lead Friday when Seattle lost at Boston 14-10.

Midseason standings are fluid, and it’s far too early to get enthralled by scoreboard watching.

“I think I pay attention to our team,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “I appreciate the stress that comes with whether you’re a game up or a game back or five games up or five games back. I really think we’re chasing ourselves. I think we need to play our best baseball and we’ll sort out the standings as it gets towards the later end of the season.

“I’m aware of it because I’m a baseball enthusiast; I watch the scores all the time. It’s what I do. I’m not emotionally drained when other teams go on win streaks and I’m not emotionally charged by a couple losses. I just want our team to play well.”

Right-hander Lance McCullers (8-3, 3.77 ERA) gets the start in the middle game of the series for Houston. He is 1-0 with a 2.33 ERA over four career starts against the Royals, and he recorded a no-decision in his previous outing against them after allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks with nine strikeouts over six innings in a 7-4 Astros victory on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals will hand the ball to right-hander Ian Kennedy (1-7, 5.31 ERA) on Saturday. Kennedy is winless over his last 13 starts, one behind Athletics right-hander Chris Bassitt for the longest active streak in the majors. He is 0-7 with a 6.12 ERA since his only win on April 7.

Kennedy is 4-1 with a 1.99 ERA over five career starts against the Astros, including 3-0 with a 0.92 ERA over three starts at Minute Maid Park.

The Royals (23-52) on Friday began transitioning veteran Alcides Escobar off shortstop, ending his string of 407 consecutive starts there by moving him to center field for the opener of their series with the Astros. Escobar finished 2-for-2 with two walks, marking the first time since Sept. 6, 2017, against the Detroit Tigers that he reached base in all four plate appearances.

Escobar, a free agent following the season, has been a mainstay at short for the Royals since 2011. Before making his first career start in center on Friday, Escobar last played that position on Aug. 2 Oren Burks Jersey , 2010, while with the Milwaukee Brewers, shifting in the eighth inning after starting at shortstop.

“We know that he’s athletic enough to play it and we want Mondi (22-year-old infielder Adalberto Mondesi) playing short,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Escobar. “We just think that the time is right. We talked to the coaches about it and they feel like he’ll be fine.

“He’s really excited about the opportunity at playing multiple positions, not only center but some third and some second. He knows that his next career move is probably going to be a utility-type player on the field and he’s anxious to start showing people that he can handle it.”

The city is gearing up and shutting down for its first-ever Super Bowl parade, with universities, schools and government offices all shuttering and mass transit being shifted to serve the needs of parade-going Eagles fans.

Museums, city courts and even the Philadelphia Zoo will close as Philadelphia focuses on Thursday’s celebrations. Visitors who might be in town for reasons other than feting Sunday’s 41-33 win over the New England Patriots will still be able to visit places like Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

The parade starts near the team’s stadium and ends its 5-mile trek at the art museum steps that Sylvester Stallone climbed in the ”Rocky” movies – a fitting finish for a team seen as the underdog, just like the fictional fighter.

Organizers said they’re preparing for as many as 2 million people to jam the parade route. No official estimate was released for the parade after the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, but crowd assessment experts have said that likely didn’t exceed 750,000.

The city doesn’t plan to make any crowd estimates for this parade.

Mayor Jim Kenney called on fans to celebrate with passion and pride, again referring to those who committed violence and vandalism late Sunday as ”knuckleheads.”

”Now remember – act responsibly, don’t ruin this for the fans who have waited decades for what will be a historic day as the Eagles finally parade up Broad Street. We are after all the city of brotherly love and sisterly affection.”

The parade has also touched off a bit of a beer war.

Bud Light will offer free beers to revelers at two dozen bars along the parade route, thanks to a promise its brewer made to Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson before the season.

Not wanting to be upstaged by an out-of-towner, Philadelphia-based Yards Brewing said it will offer fans a free Philly Pale Ale on parade day in the brewery’s taproom.

”We might not be able to get everyone a beer but we can try,” they tweeted .

The city’s two subways will be free all day, but groupies coming in from the suburbs might have a trickier time getting into the city.

All 50,000 special parade day tickets for the regional railroad lines were sold out as of 1 p.m. Marquez Valdes-Scantling Jersey , said Andrew Busch, a spokesman for Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority. Weekly and month passes are valid, however.

The rapid-transit system connecting Philadelphia and southern New Jersey planned to stop selling tickets by early Wednesday night for those wishing to take the commuter line to the parade.

PATCO also said having a ticket wouldn’t necessarily mean fans will get a ride, and suggested people also consider walking across the nearly 2-mile-long Benjamin Franklin Bridge.

Meanwhile, working off surveillance video, social media posts and eyewitness accounts, police announced Wednesday they had made at least eight arrests stemming from the violence and vandalism that occurred during street celebrations late Sunday and early Monday.

Among those arrested were a 28-year-old man accused of assaulting an Associated Press photographer who was taking pictures of street celebrations and vandalism near City Hall, and a 20-year-old who police say was one of seven men seen flipping a car onto its side. Police said the photographer was hit in the face with his camera and punched a number of times in in the head, suffering cuts, bruises and other injuries.

In a tweet , the department urged those involved the postgame mayhem to turn themselves in.

”What I don’t understand is how dumb people can really be,” the mayor said. ”These days, everything’s videotaped, and not only is it videotaped on security cameras, it’s videotaped by themselves and their friends and they post it on social media. So, I mean, you put your own wanted poster out on social media for all to see.”