The Cleveland Guardians and the Kansas City Royals meet Sunday in MLB action from Kauffman Stadium. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Cleveland Guardians vs. Kansas City Royals prediction.
Starting Pitching Matchup
The Cleveland Guardians will start Tanner Bibee here and Bibee was 12-8 with a 3.47 ERA and 187 strikeouts last season. In his last five starts against the Royals, Bibee is 2-0 with a 3.67 ERA and 26 strikeouts. Michael Wacha will get the nod for the Royals and was 13-8 with a 3.35 ERA and 145 strikeouts last season. In his last five starts against Cleveland, Wacha is 2-1 with a 2.79 ERA and 27 strikeouts.
Cleveland Guardians Recap
The Cleveland Guardians will be out to win the series after a 4-3 loss to the Royals on Saturday. After this game, the Guardians will head on the road for a series against the San Diego Padres.
Guardians Looking To Bounce Back
Steven Kwan belted a solo home run while Bo Naylor had a hit and an RBI and Carlos Santana added an RBI as well to finish off the scoring for the Guardians in the losing effort. Nolan Jones added a double while Lane Thomas and Brayan Rocchio each had a base hit as well to cap off Cleveland’s offense with the Guardians mustering up just five hits as a team in the losing effort. Gavin Williams allowed two runs on four hits over five innings of work, not factoring in the decision. Paul Sewald ended up with the loss to fall to 0-1 on the year.
Why the Cleveland Guardians will win
- The Royals have lost each of their last four games as home favorites after playing the previous day.
- The Guardians have won 16 of their last 24 games as road underdogs against the Royals.
- The Royals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last seven games as home favorites.
- The Guardians have covered the run line in 10 of their last 11 day games against the Royals following a loss.
Cleveland Guardians Player Prop Facts
- Nolan Jones has recorded a Double in three of his four previous appearances with his team as a road underdog against the Royals.
- Steven Kwan has recorded an RBI in each of the Guardians’ last three games against AL opponents.
- Steven Kwan has scored at least one run in each of his last four road appearances after playing the previous day.
- Steven Kwan has recorded at least one Single in each of his last seven appearances after playing the previous day.
- Nolan Jones has recorded at least one hit in each of his last eight appearances.
- Jose Ramirez has hit a home run in four of the Guardians’ last nine road games.
- Kyle Manzardo ranks T2nd amongst qualified players for On Base Percentage (.667) this season.
Kansas City Royals Recap
The Kansas City Royals come into this game looking to win the set after evening the series up at one win apiece thanks to their victory over the Guardians on Saturday. After this game, Kansas City will head on the road for a series against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Royals Looking To Win Series
Salvador Perez went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs while Maikel Garcia went 2 for 4 with a solo home run and Bobby Witt Jr. had a double and an RBI to cap off the scoring for Kansas City in the winning effort. Jonathan India had a pair of hits while Michael Massey, Cavan Biggio and Kyle Isbel each had a base hit to round out Kansas City’s offense as a team in the win. Seth Lugo allowed three runs on four hits with four strikeouts and three walks over five innings of work, not factoring in the decision. Daniel Lynch IV got the win to improve to 1-0 on the year while Carlos Estevez picked up the save, his first of the year.
Why the Kansas City Royals will win
- The Royals have won each of their last 10 games as favorites against AL Central opponents following a home win.
- The Guardians have lost four of their last five games after playing the previous day.
- The Royals have covered the run line in each of their last nine games as home favorites against AL Central opponents following a win.
- The Guardians have failed to cover the run line in seven of their last eight games against American League opponents after playing the previous day.
Kansas City Royals Player Prop Facts
- Vinnie Pasquantino has hit a home run in three of his last five home appearances against the Guardians.
- Vinnie Pasquantino has recorded a Double in four of his last five home appearances after playing the previous day.
- Michael Wacha has recorded a win in nine of his last 10 appearances with his team as a home favorite against AL opponents .
- Vinnie Pasquantino has recorded at least one RBI in each of his last four home appearances against the Guardians after playing the previous day.
- Salvador Perez has recorded at least one Single in each of the Royals’ last six games against AL Central opponents.
- Michael Wacha has recorded five or more strikeouts in five of his six previous appearances against the Guardians.
- Bobby Witt Jr. has recorded at least one hit in each of the Royals’ last eight home games.
- Kyle Isbel has scored a run in each of his last four appearances with the Royals as favorites.
Total Runs Facts
- Seven of the Royals’ last eight games after playing the previous day have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Six of the Guardians’ last seven day games after playing the previous day have gone UNDER the total runs line.
Cleveland Guardians vs. Kansas City Royals Prediction
I’m on the Royals in this one. I just think that Kansas City is the better team here and Wacha was solid at Kauffman Stadium last year. Bibee is arguably Cleveland’s staff ace and would’ve gotten the opening day start had it not been for a bout of food poisoning, but I think that the Royals get it done here against Bibee at a solid price at home to win the series. Give me the Royals in this one.