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Kansas City Royals vs. Cleveland Indians – 8/31/20 MLB Pick, Odds, and Prediction


2020-08-31 20:05:00 EDT

The Cleveland Indians and the Kansas City Royals meet Monday in MLB action from Kauffman Stadium. 

The Indians are coming off a weekend series versus the Cardinals. Cleveland won the first two games of that set 14-2 and 2-1. In the Sunday finale, the Indians missed out on the sweep with a 7-2 loss. As for the Royals, they played the White Sox this weekend. Kansas City split the first two games 6-5 (loss) and 9-6 (win). In the Sunday rubber match, the Royals fell 5-2 to lose the series. Check back all season long for free MLB picks and MLB predictions at Sports Chat Place. 

The Indians were out-hit by St. Louis in the Sunday game 11-4 and there wasn’t much offense to speak of. Tyler Naquin provided the only scoring with a two-run homer in the second. Starter Aaron Civale went 6.0 innings with eight hits, five earned and two walks. 

For the Monday starting pitcher job, the Indians will turn to Shane Bieber. This season over seven starts, Bieber is 6-0 with a 1.35 ERA And 75 strikeouts in 46.2 innings. On his career, Bieber is 32-13 with a 3.43 ERA and 452 Ks in 375.2 innings. 

Over on the Royals’ side, they managed just five hits to the White Sox’ eight in the Sunday loss. Whit Merrifield had the only RBIs for the team with two hits, a homer and two RBI. 

In Monday’s starter role, the Royals will send Brad Keller out to the mound. This season, Keller is 3-1 over four starts with a 2.08 ERA and 19 Ks in 21.2 innings. Over his MLB career, Keller is 19-21 with a 3.57 ERA and 237 Ks in 327.1 innings of work. 

The Indians are 38-13 in their last 51 games as a road favorite and 61-25 in their last 86 games overall as a favorite. Cleveland is 51-23 in their last 74 games versus the American League Central and 30-14 in their last 44 during game one of a series. 

Meanwhile, the Royals are 15-36 in their last 51 Monday games and 107-222 in their last 329 games as an underdog. Kansas City is also 19-39 in their last 58 games as a home underdog and they’re 2-7 in their last nine home games after a road trip of seven or more days.
Pick: I’m leaning Indians here. That said, this is probably the marquis starting pitcher matchup of the series. Keller had a 17.2-inning scoreless streak until his last start, which didn’t go so well (six hits, five runs in four innings). He should be able to bounce back and do well here. As for Bieber, there’s not much to complain about. He’s coming off two runs on four hits with 10 Ks in six innings versus the Twins, and he wasn’t even in top form during that game. If Bieber is on, this will be Cleveland’s game to lose. 

Andrew's Free Pick: Cleveland Indians -220

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Andrew

Andrew has been writing about college, professional and fantasy sports betting since 2013. Andrew's goal is to break down the complicated numbers and trends into a language that's easily accessible to novice sports bettors and seasoned professionals alike.

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