Cleveland Indians vs. Kansas City Royals – 9/9/20 MLB Pick, Odds, and Prediction
2020-09-09 18:10:00 EDT
The Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Indians meet Wednesday in MLB action from Progressive Field.
This will be the third matchup in a four-game series between these teams this week. The Indians took a 5-2 victory in game one. In the Tuesday game two, the Royals scored five runs in the final three innings to bang out an 8-6 win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks and MLB predictions at Sports Chat Place.
The Royals were down 5-3 heading into the seventh inning in the Tuesday game, but were able to tie it up in that frame and eventually get a victory. Whit Merrifield slapped a three-run homer in that one, logging two hits and two runs as well. Starting pitcher Jakob Junis posted 4.1 innings, seven hits, five earned and three strikeouts.
For the Wednesday starting pitcher role, the Royals will send out Danny Duffy. In his eight starts this season, Duffy is 2-3 with a 4.83 ERA and 43 strikeouts over 41.0 innings of work. In his MLB career, Duffy has logged a 62-64 mark with a 4.01 ERA and 969 Ks in 1096.0 innings.
Over on the Indians’ side, Tuesday starting pitcher Triston McKenzie went 5.0 innings with three hits, seven strikeouts, three earned and a walk in a no-decision. Carlos Santana, Sandy Leon and Francisco Lindor each hit homers there, combining for six RBI and four hits.
For the Wednesday game, the Indians will go with Carlos Carrasco in the start. This season over eight starts, Carrasco has gone 2-3 with a 3.43 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 42.0 innings. Across his MLB career, Carrasco carries a 3.80 ERA with an 87-72 mark and 1275 Ks in 1216.1 innings total.
The Royals are 19-39 in the last 58 Wednesday games and 50-106 in the last 156 road games. Kansas City is 26-80 in the last 106 during game three of a series and the under is 6-1 in the last seven Wednesday games.
Meanwhile, the Indians are 7-2 in their last nine during game three of a series and 39-14 in their last 53 Wednesday games. Cleveland is 54-24 in their last 78 versus the American League Central and the under is 40-15-3 in their last 58 Wednesday games.
Pick: Going Indians here. I’m not super high on Duffy right now; he had a tough outing versus the White Sox his last time up, with six runs on seven hits in six innings. That said, Carrasco has certainly had his shaky moments this season—he’s looking better with consecutive quality starts under his belt, however. If Carrasco can keep it going and put together another competent outing, there should be a clear path to a victory for Cleveland.
