Kansas City Royals vs. Cleveland Indians Preview
Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland
When: Thursday, September 22, 7:10 PM ET
Line: Kansas City Royals (+150) at Cleveland Indians (-170); total: 9.0 – view all MLB lines
TV Broadcast: FSKC, Sports Time Ohio
Writer’s Pick: Kansas City (+150)
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Betting on the Kansas City Royals (+150)
Starting for Kansas City in this AL Central matchup is right-hander Jason Vargas. This will just be Vargas’s second start since undergoing Tommy John surgery 14 months ago. Vargas was impressive in his last start against the Chicago White Sox, allowing just one run on two hits over three innings of action. Vargas only threw 52 pitches in that game and he is expected to be on a pitch count once again tonight.
With Vargas still a question mark at this point, the onus is on the Kansas City hitters to put up some runs on the board tonight. The Royals have scored just four runs in this series thus far. Expected to lead the Kansas City offense in this series finale is the red-hot Kendrys Morales. He is 9-of-27 in his last seven games with two homers and 10 RBIs. Morales leads the Royals in homers with 29 to his name this season.
The Royals are 5-5 in their last 10 road games.
Betting on the Cleveland Indians (-170)
The Cleveland Indians moved one step closer to the coveted AL Central title with a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night. Corey Kluber surrendered two runs and struck out nine in 6.1 innings for the Indians who reduced their magic number for clinching the division title to five games. The Indians will look to complete the series sweep when they square off with the Royals in the final game of their three-game set tonight.
Pitching for Cleveland in this series finale is Mike Clevinger. With injuries to both Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, Clevinger has suddenly been thrust into the Indians’ starting rotation for the final two weeks of September. The right-hander has a 2.92 ERA in his last nine outings for the Indians. Clevinger, who owns a 4.76 ERA in 14 appearances with the Tribe this season, hasn’t logged more than 5.2 innings in any game this campaign. In 45.1 innings pitched, the rookie has walked 25 and struck out 43 batters.
Clevinger, who hasn’t tossed more than four innings in an appearance since August 13, is expected to throw around 100 pitches tonight. With Clevinger on a loose pitch count this evening, the pressure is on the Cleveland hitters to deliver the goods tonight. Expected to lead the Tribe offense this evening is the in-form Carlos Santana. The Indians DH is hitting 10-of-24 (.417) in his last six games with two homers and five RBIs. He is 6-of-24 in his career against Royals starter Jason Vargas with one RBI and four walks.
Cleveland is 7-0 in its last seven home games against Kansas City. The Indians are pegged at +650 to win the World Series this year.
Writer’s Prediction
Kansas City (+150) wins, 5-2.
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