Cleveland Indians-Kansas City Royals Series Preview

Cleveland Indians-Kansas City Royals Series Preview 7/18 to 7/20

The first place Cleveland Indians (54-37) head to Kansas City to take on the third-place Royals (46-45) in a three-game series. The Indians enter the series with the best record in the American League (.593 win percentage) and the fourth-best record in all of baseball, trailing only the San Francisco Giants (.613 win pct), Chicago Cubs (.604), and Washington Nationals (.602). This will be the fourth meeting between the Indians and Royals, with the Tribe holding the season edge six games to four.

More from Away Back Gone

• Cleveland Guardians tantalizingly close to locking up AL Central tiebreakers
• Cleveland Guardians: Terry Francona becomes meme in profanity-laced ejection
• Say goodbye to defensive shifts and hello to bigger bases, pitch clock in 2023
• Cleveland Guardians: Shane Bieber second-fastest to 800 strikeouts in major-league history
• The next week will make or break the Cleveland Guardians’ season

The pitching probables for the series are:

"Monday (7/18): RHP Corey Kluber (9-8, 3.61 ERA) vs RHP Edinson Volquez (8-8, 4.85)Tuesday (7/19): RHP Danny Salazar (10-3, 2.75) vs TBDWednesday (7/20): RHP Carlos Carrasco (6-3, 2.49) vs Ian Kennedy (6-7, 3.86)"

The Indians will be sending out their top three starters against the defending World Series champions this series. 2016 All-Stars Kluber and Salazar will be getting their first work of the second half while Carrasco will be making his second start, coming off a win at Minnesota Friday night. Salazar currently has the lowest earned run average in the American league at 2.75, just below fellow All-Star Steven Wright of the Boston Red Sox (2.78). Kluber remains the American League leader in both fielding independent pitching (FIP) and Fangraphs’ wins above replacement (fWAR).

The Royals will counter with a pair of veterans in Volquez and Kennedy. Volquez has struggled for much of the season while Kennedy has proven to be a somewhat solid winter addition for the Royals, giving them a solid inning eater (though FIP really hates Kennedy). The Royals have not yet announced a starter for Tuesday’s game.

The Indians will be with a new starting catcher for this series after Yan Gomes suffered a separated shoulder during Sunday’s win over the Minnesota Twins. Roberto Perez has been activated from the 60-day disabled list and figures to get the bulk of the starts, though he may be eased in at the start as he’s missed over two months. The Tribe will look for Jason Kipnis, Mike Napoli, and Carlos Santana to remain hot at the plate. Each has an OPS north of 1.000 in the month of July and, along with rookie Tyler Naquin, have lead the team with four home runs this month.

The Royals will be led by All-Star Most Valuable Player Eric Hosmer along with fellow All-Star Salvador Perez. The Royals have gotten Alex Gordon back from the disabled list but are without Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas.

Next: Carlos Santana is Having an Incredible Month of July

The Indians will look to extend their lead in the American League Central Division which stands at 6.5 games over the second-place Detroit Tigers. They have an eight-game lead over the Royals who are looking to stay over the .500 mark. Following the series in Kansas City, the Indians will enjoy an off day before taking on the American League East-leading Baltimore Orioles in a three-game series at Camden Yards.