Royals vs. Indians Pick
Will the Cleveland Indians manage to hold off the Kansas City Royals for another AL Central win tonight at 7:15PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Cleveland is favored at home. The Indians are getting odds of -155 to win tonight, while the Royals are listed at +140 to win. The over/under total for the contest has been set at 9 runs.
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The pitching matchup today has Jason Hammel (6-9, 4.73 ERA) on the mound for the Royals to face Mike Clevinger (6-5, 3.97) of the Indians. Hammel has allowed at least three runs in five of his last six starts. He has 112 strikeouts this season with 40 walks and a 1.35 WHIP. Clevinger is coming off a 4-run, 4.1-inning effort against the Red Sox. He has given up at least three runs in four of his last six starts. Clevinger has 99 strikeouts this season with 48 walks and a 1.34 WHIP.
These two opened the weekend series on Friday with Cleveland picking up a 4-0 win. The Indians have now won four of their last five meetings with the Royals. The Tribe sit at 71-56 overall and 34-29 at home this year. Kansas City is 64-63 overall and 29-33 on the road.
Friday saw the Royals strand eight runners, which allowed Ryan Merritt to pitch 6.2 scoreless innings and earn his first win of the season. The Cleveland bullpen backed him up with 2.1 innings of 1-hit ball. Jason Vargas continued his slide, allowing four runs in five innings to fall to 14-8 on the season for the Royals. Cleveland was led at the plate by Francisco Lindor, who had two hits with two RBI. That included his 23rd home run of the season. Eric Hosmer had a pair of hits to lead the Royals.
Neither starter comes into tonight’s game with much momentum. With that being the case, I have to side with the Indians. Cleveland has the better lineup day-to-day. The Indians should be able to produce some runs on Hammel. While Clevinger could allow some runs, the Royals don’t have the same pop in their bats to compete with Cleveland most nights.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: CLEVELAND INDIANS -155