Cleveland Indians (15-13, third in the AL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (16-12, second in the AL Central)
Kansas City, Kansas; Wednesday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Indians: Shane Bieber (3-2, 2.76 ERA, .99 WHIP, 68 strikeouts) Royals: Brady Singer (1-3, 3.09 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 26 strikeouts)
LINE: Royals +144, Indians -165; over/under is 7 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Kansas City enters the game as losers of their last three games.
The Royals are 7-6 against AL Central opponents. The Kansas City offense has compiled a .242 batting average as a team this season, good for eighth in the majors. Andrew Benintendi leads the team with a mark of .278.
The Indians are 13-8 against opponents from the AL Central. Cleveland has hit 37 home runs as a team this season. Jose Ramirez leads them with eight, averaging one every 12.6 at-bats.
The Indians won the last meeting 7-3. Nick Wittgren earned his first victory and Jake Bauers went 1-for-1 with a home run and two RBIs for Cleveland. Josh Staumont registered his first loss for Kansas City.
TOP PERFORMERS: Salvador Perez leads the Royals with 14 extra base hits and is batting .268.
Franmil Reyes leads the Indians with 15 extra base hits and is slugging .624.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 5-5, .237 batting average, 4.66 ERA, outscored by seven runs
Indians: 7-3, .216 batting average, 4.00 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs
INJURIES: Royals: Kyle Zimmer: (left trap), Daniel Tillo: (undisclosed), Brady Singer: (foot), Jesse Hahn: (right shoulder), Adalberto Mondesi: (right oblique strain), Cam Gallagher: (concussion).
Indians: Cam Hill: (right wrist).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
