Looking to sidestep a sweep at the hands of their American League Central rivals, the Kansas City Royals will welcome the Cleveland Guardians into Kauffman Stadium Wednesday night.
The guests came out on top of MLB Monday’s matchup in extra innings, winning 6-5. They followed that up with a 4-1 triumph on Tuesday, claiming a lead in the top of the third frame and giving Shane Bieber his ninth win of the year.
Bieber went eight innings, allowing only one earned run and striking out seven challengers. He pitched with the advantage after designated hitter Jose Ramirez singled in catcher Austin Hedges and center fielder Myles Straw, who initially reached base on a walk and a base hit, respectively.
Team’s Deficit
Kansas City backstop Salvador Perez cut his team’s deficit in half in the home fourth, belting a solo home run to right field.
Run-producing hits by Straw and first baseman Owen Miller in the seventh and eighth sealed the deal for the Guardians. Let’s look at some Guardians vs. Royals betting stats.
Kansas City Royals vs. Cleveland Guardians
Kansas City Royals Stats
The Royals (55-82) have lost five of their last seven outings, with the two victories during that stretch earning them a series win over Detroit.
Royals’ Standings
The Royals’ standings aren’t great. Wins and losses, at this juncture, don’t make too much of a difference for Kansas City, which is 21 games out of a Wild Card spot.
The only teams further from the postseason are Detroit and Oakland. It won’t be long before all three are eliminated from contention.
For being a crew that’s almost sure to miss out on competing for a title this year, it might come as a bit of a surprise that the Royals haven’t been completely terrible at the plate.
Royals’ Batting Average
Their .245 team batting average is better than more than half the teams in the major leagues, while they’ve been fairly ordinary in terms of working walks, too.
It’s been a matter of failing to bring runners all the way around, though, as Kansas City ranks within the bigs’ bottom third when it comes to RBIs, home runs, and total runs. Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. is surely someone for the franchise to build around.
He paces the group in hitting (.246), runs driven in (70), and total hits (121). Perez has 20 dingers, while fellow backstop MJ Melendez is the owner of a .320 on-base percentage.
Only four team members have at least 10 home runs, those being Perez, Witt Jr., Melendez, and first baseman Hunter Dozier.
Cleveland Guardians Stats
Cleveland (70-64) holds a slim, 1.5-game lead in the division, with Minnesota on its heels. The Chicago White Sox are also within reach, making each Guardians performance meaningful during this final month of the regular season.
This set has been important for Cleveland, which lost six of seven — and five in a row — before arriving in Missouri. During that dry spell, the Guardians were shut out four times.
Guardians’ Batting Average
Overall this campaign, Cleveland ranks 11th with a .249 collective batting average. They won’t be mistaken for being too patient, being that they rank in the bottom five when it comes to bases on balls.
Interestingly for a grouping leader, they haven’t been all that fantastic in pushing base runners across or hitting the ball over the outfield wall — they rank 22nd and 29th in those categories, respectively.
Second baseman Andres Gimenez and Ramirez have brought the big bats in the lineup. The former has a .303 batting average and a .371 on-base percentage, while the later has 26 long balls and 108 RBIs, which are the third-most in MLB.
Royals vs. Guardians Matchup Betting Trends
- Cleveland is 60-67-6 against the spread this season
- The Royals are 32-38 at home in 2022
- The Guardians average 6.90 strikeouts per game, the most in MLB
Royals vs. Guardians Betting Picks and Prediction
Now that we’ve gone over Guardians vs. Royals betting stats, we’ll take a peek at the main sportsbook MLB betting odds; the Guardians are favored to complete the sweep here in this clash.
Cleveland is -1.5 on the run line at +122, while the Royals are -146 to cover the spread. On the moneyline, the Guardians are -132, and Kansas City is a +112 underdog.
The total is marked down at eight runs, with the over being -102 and the under -120 at the time of this writing. This pick will go against the Guardians vs. Royals betting stats, particularly on the offensive side.
Most Profitable Team
The Royals would love to spoil Cleveland’s attempt at a three-game winning streak. Kansas City’s starting hurler, Zack Greinke, will help them do so, defeating the Guardians odds.
Going up against the Guardians’ Cody Morris, who’s 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in his lone start this year, Greinke has the edge.
The right-handed veteran isn’t having a spectacular showing — he’s 4-8 with a 4.14 ERA — but he does have the experience. Expect him to lead Kansas City to an outright win.
MLB Pick: Royals -1.5 (+120)
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