Kansas City Royals (16-30, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Cleveland Guardians (19-24, third in the AL Central)
Cleveland; Monday, 6:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Jonathan Heasley (0-2, 4.73 ERA, 1.88 WHIP, seven strikeouts); Guardians: Zach Plesac (1-4, 5.40 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 28 strikeouts)
LINE: Guardians -168, Royals +143; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Cleveland Guardians host the Kansas City Royals to open a three-game series.
Cleveland is 19-24 overall and 8-8 in home games. The Guardians have gone 17-4 in games when they record eight or more hits.
Kansas City is 16-30 overall and 8-15 on the road. Royals hitters have a collective .300 on-base percentage, the ninth-ranked percentage in the AL.
Monday's game is the fifth time these teams square off this season. The season series is tied 2-2.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Ramirez leads the Guardians with 12 home runs while slugging .634. Owen Miller is 9-for-38 with a double, a home run and six RBI over the past 10 games.
Andrew Benintendi has six doubles, two triples, two home runs and 19 RBI for the Royals. Bobby Witt Jr. is 11-for-37 with five doubles, a triple, two home runs and nine RBI over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 3-7, .213 batting average, 2.79 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs
Royals: 2-8, .267 batting average, 7.12 ERA, outscored by 21 runs
INJURIES: Guardians: Franmil Reyes: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Aaron Civale: 15-Day IL (left glute), James Karinchak: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Carlos Vargas: 60-Day IL (undisclosed), Cody Morris: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Royals: Kyle Isbel: 10-Day IL (illness), Amir Garrett: 15-Day IL (undisclosed), Adalberto Mondesi: 60-Day IL (knee), Michael A. Taylor: 10-Day IL (illness), Edward Olivares: 10-Day IL (quadricep), Cam Gallagher: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Jake Brentz: 10-Day IL (flexor), Tyler Zuber: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by
