Duffy, Royals to face Plesac, Indians

Updated Jul. 8, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Kansas City Royals (36-50, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Cleveland Indians (42-42, second in the AL Central)

Cleveland; Thursday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Danny Duffy (4-3, 2.60 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 57 strikeouts) Indians: Zach Plesac (4-3, 4.14 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 38 strikeouts)

LINE: Indians -137, Royals +118; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Cleveland and Kansas City will meet on Thursday.

The Indians are 21-19 in home games in 2020. Cleveland has hit 100 home runs as a team this season. Jose Ramirez leads the club with 18, averaging one every 15.7 at-bats.

The Royals are 15-28 in road games. Kansas City has a team on-base percentage of .305, led by Carlos Santana with a mark of .364.

The Indians won the last meeting 4-0. Triston McKenzie earned his first victory and Franmil Reyes went 1-for-3 with a home run and an RBI for Cleveland. Danny Duffy took his second loss for Kansas City.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ramirez leads the Indians with 18 home runs and is batting .266.

Salvador Perez leads the Royals with 95 hits and is batting .281.

LAST 10 GAMES: Indians: 1-9, .230 batting average, 6.53 ERA, outscored by 25 runs

Royals: 3-7, .265 batting average, 6.59 ERA, outscored by 24 runs

INJURIES: Indians: Zach Plesac: (thumb), Cam Hill: (wrist), Aaron Civale: (finger), Shane Bieber: (shoulder), Eddie Rosario: (abdominal), Josh Naylor: (ankle), Jordan Luplow: (ankle).

Royals: Daniel Tillo: (undisclosed), Jesse Hahn: (shoulder), Wade Davis: (forearm), Ronald Bolanos: (flexor), Emmanuel Rivera: (hand), Adalberto Mondesi: (oblique), Cam Gallagher: (shoulder).

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