Kansas City Royals (25-62) at Cleveland Guardians (42-44)
Game Info: Thursday, July 6th, 2023 at 7:10 p.m. EST (Progressive Field)
Betting Odds: Guardians (-195) - Over/Under (9)
Pick: Guardians ML (-195)
Thursday brings us back to Progressive Field for the opening game of the series between the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Guardians. This will be the fourth game of the season between these two American League Central division rivals, and Cleveland currently leads the season series two games to one heading into this game.
Cleveland is starting to heat up and that is a pattern that they follow every single season. However, after a successful weekend against the Chicago Cubs, Atlanta came to Cleveland and cooled them off a little bit, as they took two out of three games from the Guardians, and now Cleveland will look to bounce back in their second series of the season against the Kansas City Royals. As previously mentioned, Cleveland currently leads the season series two games to one over arguably the worst team in all of Major League Baseball this season.
The Cleveland Guardians are dead even over their last 10 games this season with five victories and five losses. With the recent series, lost to Atlanta inside the friendly confines of Progressive Field they have fallen to .500 at home this season at 21-21 with 39 home games left on the schedule. They now find themselves two games behind Minnesota for the top spot in the American League Central division. They will be hoping that a successful four-game stint against the Kansas City Royals will propel them into first place going into the All-Star break.
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There haven’t been many positives for the Kansas City Royals this season. They are among the worst teams in all of baseball, and they are well out of the playoff race before we even get to the home run derby and the All-Star game. They come into this series after losing seven out of their last 10 games on the season including their current three-game losing streak. They will be looking to snap here on Thursday night in Cleveland. They have one of the worst run differentials in all of baseball as they are nearly 150 runs in the red this season.
Their lack of offense is a lot of their problem this season as they just cannot seem to get their bats going when they need them. Kansas City’s pitching hasn’t helped them out in the slightest bit either this season. As Kansas City has given up, the third most runs in all of Major League Baseball this season, in front of only the Oakland Athletics and the Colorado Rockies.
That will certainly not help them against a Cleveland lineup that is starting to heat up as the summer continues to roll on. As they will have to contain a red-hot lineup with the likes of José Ramirez, Steven Kwan, and Josh Naylor with arguably the worst starting pitcher in all of baseball taking the mound for them on Thursday night. As Jordan Lyles comes into this game with a 1-11 record on the year and an Earned Run Average of 6.68 in sixteen appearances.
Betting trends to consider in this matchup:
- Cleveland is 25-18 coming off of a loss this season
- Kansas City is 12-31 as a road underdog this season
- Cleveland is 37-31 without rest; Kansas City is 25-51