The Indians were pushing for the top spot in the AL Central before a 1-4 stretch and the suspension of Marlon Byrd for PED use hit the fan. Not only does the Tribe have to deal with that nonsense, they get the red-hot Royals visiting over the weekend.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
On May 22, Kansas City third baseman Mike Moustakas and left fielder Alex Gordon collided while chasing a foul fly ball at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. Moustakas tore the ACL in his right knee and is out for the year. Gordon is out for at least a month with a broken right wrist. Losing a pair of All-Stars on a routine play would be a death sentence to most teams – not the Royals.
Since that day, the Royals have won eight of nine games and climbed back into first place in the AL Central. The Royals completed a three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, and a 6-0 homestand, with a 6-3 win Wednesday, and have cashed the over in all nine games during this run. They’ve apparently figured out its road woes, too. The Royals are 4-2 in their past six away contests after going 7-13 through their first 20.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Ian Kennedy (4-3, 3.03 ERA) picked up his first quality start in four outings Monday, holding the Rays to one unearned run and three hits over six innings. He took a no-decision after Kelvin Herrera blew the lead in the eighth, but the Royals rallied for their fifth win in Kennedy’s last six starts. Despite not allowing any earned runs, Kennedy was a bit shaky. He struck out six, but issued five free passes and tossed 107 pitches.
Kennedy didn't allow an extra-base hit and he continues to miss bats – he drew 11 swinging strikes, the seventh time in 10 starts he has gotten double-digit whiffs. He has 59 strikeouts in 59.1 innings along with a 3.03 ERA. Kennedy tossed seven shutout innings at the Tribe in a 7-0 win in Cleveland on May 7.
Josh Tomlin (7-1, 3.79 ERA) certainly struggled, as he was tagged for three extra-base hits, and nine total, over 3.2 innings in a loss to Texas on Monday. He managed just 11 first-pitch strikes to 22 batters, but his start was tanked by Cleveland's defense, which committed four errors behind him and forced him to throw more pressure pitches than he needed to. This marks the first time all season he failed to pitch at least five innings, but given the defensive circus behind him, it's pretty easy to see Monday's start is an outlier.
One of these kinds of outings was bound to come for Tomlin eventually. Luckily for him, half of the runs were unearned so his ERA wasn't blown up too badly. He didn’t pitch great but got a win against the Royals on May 8, giving up seven hits and four runs in six innings.
LIVE BETTING
Whit Merrifield finally got his chance and he’s making the most of it. After spending his entire career in the minors, Merrifield got the call to the Royals on May 18 and he’s off to a memorable start. The loss of Gordon and Moustakas opened spots in the lineup and Merrifield has contributed not only at the plate but in the field as well. Since his call up, the rookie has played left field, second base and third base. But the real story is what he’s done at the dish.
Merrifield has hit in his first 11 career starts, which is a Royals record. He doubled in the first on Wednesday and scored on Lorenzo Cain’s single. He has scored a run in nine consecutive games, which matches a Royals record. Merrifield then singled in the fourth for his seventh multi-hit game in his last nine, raising his season average to .360.
QUICK PICK
The Indians just can’t decide if they want to be contenders in the AL Central. They made a run to the top of the division by taking three straight from then-first place Chicago, and followed that by losing four of their next five games before a walk-off win over the Rangers on Wednesday. Already thin in the outfield with Michael Brantley still on the shelf and Abraham Almonte serving a suspension, the Tribe suffered another blow when Marlon Byrd was hit with a 162-game PED ban. Not only does the loss spread the ranks thinner, it’s also a distraction the Indians could do without. Kennedy has been sharp much of the year and had a masterful outing in Cleveland last month. There really is no reason why he can’t do it again.
MLB Odds: Kansas City 5, Cleveland 1
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