The Kansas City Royals are getting closer to clinching their first postseason berth in 29 years after defeating the Cleveland Indians 7-1 on Tuesday night. With the Detroit Tigers still maintaining a one-game lead in the American League Central, however, the Royals know that they can’t let up and that starts with their final meeting with the Indians later tonight.
Read on for a complete breakdown of this matchup and while you’re at it you can also check out our MLB Free Picks for the five best baseball games of the day.
[sc:MLBArticles ]Kansas City Royals vs. Cleveland Indians Betting Preview and Prediction
Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland
When: September 24, 2014, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Kansas City Royals (+103) at Cleveland Indians (-113); total: 8.0 – view all MLB lines
Betting on the Kansas City Royals
The Royals are heating up at exactly the right time. Rookie Yordano Ventura (14-10, 3.07 ERA) was immense for Kansas City as he pitched seven shutout innings to lead the Royals to a comprehensive 7-1 victory over the hapless Cleveland Indians.
[sc:MLB240banner ]Ventura allowed just four hits and struck out six batters as he led the Royals to their 86th win of the season which already matches their output from last year. It is the first time since 1977-78 that the Royals have had back-to-back seasons with at least 86 victories.
They can go for the three-game sweep against the Indians later tonight and will start lefty Jason Vargas (11-10, 3.59 ERA) for the series finale.
Vargas has been struggling of late, though, losing his last three assignments. He has not gone past the 5.1 inning mark in those three outings and has allowed an ERA of 9.00 during that stretch.
He was miserable in his last start against the Tigers last September 19th wherein he allowed five earned runs on nine hits in 3.1 innings of work, his shortest outing since April 16, 2013.
He will look to stop the bleeding when he faces the Indians tonight but his record against the Tribe suggests otherwise. The Royals are 1-2 in Vargas’ three starts against the Indians this season. His last outing against Cleveland was last August 29th where he allowed four runs on 10 hits in six innings of action in a heavy 6-1 defeat.
Fortunately for him, the Royals are catching fire at the plate right now. They have scored 14 runs in their last three games, including seven last night against the Indians. They are currently fourth in the entire majors in terms of batting average with a .262 clip.
The Royals are 6-4 in their last 10 road games.
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Betting on the Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians’ hopes of reaching the postseason are all but over after suffering their second consecutive defeat to the Kansas City Royals.
With their season on the line, the Indians offense went missing at the worst possible time. In their last two games against the Royals, they have managed to score just one run, an unearned run in the eighth inning of Tuesday night’s game that snapped a scoreless streak of 19 innings.
It doesn’t help that two of their three RBI leaders are struggling at the plate at the same time. First baseman Carlos Santana, who has driven in 82 runs so far this season, is hitting just 5 of 27 (.185) in their last seven games. Catcher Yan Gomes has struggled as well in the final homestretch, going 0 for 10 in the Tribe’s last three games.
With that being said, they now need a miracle of biblical proportions for them to have a chance of reaching the playoffs. They need the Royals to lose their last five games while they also have to sweep their remaining four matches.
“We didn’t win, which we set out to do,” Francona said. “The only thing we can do now is play tomorrow and try to win that game.”
With their offense struggling though, it is easier said than done. If they are to pull off the victory, they will need a great pitching performance from Trevor Bauer (5-8, 4.06 ERA) tonight. The problem is Cleveland is 0-4 in Bauer’s last four starts.
You can’t blame it all on Bauer though. In his last five starts (0-1), Bauer has posted a respectable 3.56 ERA. It’s the offense once again that has let him down, scoring an average of 3.6 runs in his last five contests.
The Indians are 5-5 in their last 10 home games.
Writer’s Prediction
The Royals (+103) win to complete the three-game sweep.
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