Royals and Guardians meet, winner claims 3-game series

Cleveland Guardians (41-41, second in the AL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (31-52, fifth in the AL Central)

Kansas City, Missouri; Sunday, 2:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Guardians: Zach Plesac (2-6, 3.80 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 60 strikeouts); Royals: Zack Greinke (2-5, 4.85 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 34 strikeouts)

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Guardians -121, Royals +102; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Both the Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Guardians are looking for a series win with a victory on Sunday.

Kansas City is 31-52 overall and 15-26 at home. The Royals have gone 18-11 in games when they scored five or more runs.

Cleveland has a 41-41 record overall and a 21-24 record on the road. The Guardians are 33-10 in games when they record at least eight hits.

The teams meet Sunday for the 10th time this season. The Guardians are up 6-3 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Whit Merrifield has 18 doubles, a triple and five home runs while hitting .235 for the Royals. MJ Melendez is 6-for-32 with a double and three home runs over the past 10 games.

Jose Ramirez leads Cleveland with 17 home runs while slugging .589. Franmil Reyes is 10-for-38 with four home runs and nine RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 5-5, .263 batting average, 5.07 ERA, outscored by nine runs

Guardians: 3-7, .243 batting average, 5.08 ERA, outscored by 17 runs

INJURIES: Royals: Josh Staumont: 15-Day IL (neck), Daniel Lynch: 15-Day IL (blister), Salvador Perez: 10-Day IL (thumb), Jake Brentz: 60-Day IL (flexor), Adalberto Mondesi: 60-Day IL (knee), Tyler Zuber: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Guardians: Anthony Gose: 15-Day IL (tricep), Oscar Gonzalez: 10-Day IL (ribs), Carlos Vargas: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cody Morris: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.