PHILLIES AT ROYALS KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Interstat) — The Philadelphia Phillies will seek to rebound from a series loss to Pittsburgh when they visit the Kansas City Royals on Saturday in a Fourth of July matinee at Kauffman Stadium. Philadelphia (49-39) dropped Thursday’s series finale 6-1 against the Pirates, managing only three hits. The Phillies, who hold a 4 1/2-game lead in the National League East, have won seven of their past 10 contests despite the setback. Right-hander Alan Rangel is scheduled to take the mound for Philadelphia. In his most recent outing Thursday against Pittsburgh, Rangel pitched four innings, allowing three hits and no earned runs while striking out four in a no-decision. Over his past three starts, Rangel has a 3.46 ERA with 12 strikeouts across 13 innings. Kansas City (35-53) has lost five straight after dropping a 5-2 decision Thursday to Tampa Bay. The Royals are last in the American League Central. Catcher Carter Jensen has been a bright spot for Kansas City, hitting two home runs with three RBIs over his past four games. Jensen went 2 for 4 with a homer and an RBI on Thursday and is batting .333 over his past six contests. Philadelphia leads the season series 1-0 after a 5-4 victory in their only previous meeting this season. Interstat’s game simulator projects a 7-3 Phillies victory. Philadelphia is a minus-1.5 favorite, and the over/under is 8.5 runs. Following Saturday’s contest, the teams meet again Sunday and Monday before Philadelphia travels to Cincinnati for a three-game series, and Kansas City heads to New York for three games against the Mets.