Indians vs. Royals Pick
Will the Kansas City Royals find a way to get past the Cleveland Indians when the two teams meet tonight at 8:15PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Indians are the slight favorite on the road, as they are getting odds of -115 to win. The Royals are listed with a money line of -105 to prevail. The over/under total for the game is set at 9 runs. These two have met six times this season, with each team grabbing three wins. The road team is 4-2 in the six games.
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The pitching matchup for this game has Josh Tomlin (3-6, 5.79 ERA) on the mound for Cleveland to face Jason Vargas (6-3, 2.39) of the Royals. Tomlin has struggled this season, but is coming off a complete game where he allowed one run. He has 39 strikeouts with just four walks this season and a WHIP of 1.30. Vargas has been pretty steady this season, but has allowed 11 earned runs over his last three starts. He has 51 strikeouts with 15 walks and a WHIP of 1.13.
The Indians have won four of their last five games coming into today. Cleveland is 28-24 overall and 16-10 on the road. The Tribe is averaging 4.52 runs per game while allowing 3.96. Cleveland is being led by Michael Brantley, who has a .301 average with 24 RBI. Francisco Lindor is adding 12 home runs and 26 RBI.
KC is coming off a series loss to the Tigers and they are 1-3 in their last four. The Royals are now 22-30 overall and 13-13 at home. Kansas City is averaging just 3.42 runs per game while allowing 4.44 per contest. The Royals are being led by Eric Hosmer, who is hitting .303 with five home runs, 19 RBI and 10 doubles. Mike Moustakas is leading the team in home runs with 13. He also has 26 RBI.
Tomlin had a great outing last week against the Royals at home, but the last time he did something like that, he followed it up with a pair of shaky outings. Vargas has been reliable for Kansas City and I think he will be able to be the better of the two pitchers. KC may not put up a ton of runs, but I think they will get to Tomlin and give the staff enough of a lead to hold off Cleveland.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: KANSAS CITY ROYALS -105