Guardians host the Royals to start 3-game series

Kansas City Royals (60-75, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Cleveland Guardians (68-66, second in the AL Central)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Michael Wacha (7-8, 3.49 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 126 strikeouts); Guardians: Tanner Bibee (5-13, 3.97 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 123 strikeouts)

LINE: Guardians -143, Royals +117; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Cleveland Guardians open a three-game series at home against the Kansas City Royals on Friday.

Cleveland has a 68-66 record overall and a 31-34 record in home games. The Guardians have a 29-16 record in games when they did not give up a home run.

Kansas City has a 24-45 record in road games and a 60-75 record overall. Royals hitters are batting a collective .248, the ninth-best team batting average in MLB play.

The teams meet Friday for the eighth time this season. The Guardians lead the season series 4-3.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Ramirez has 23 doubles, 10 home runs and 44 RBIs while hitting .243 for the Guardians. Steven Kwan is 14 for 41 with a double over the last 10 games.

Bobby Witt Jr. has 27 doubles, a triple, 16 home runs and 49 RBIs for the Royals. Vinnie Pasquantino is 13 for 38 with four doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 8-2, .273 batting average, 2.47 ERA, outscored opponents by 23 runs

Royals: 9-1, .310 batting average, 3.44 ERA, outscored opponents by 30 runs

INJURIES: Guardians: Chase DeLauter: day-to-day (hamstring), Rhys Hoskins: 10-Day IL (back), Shawn Armstrong: 60-Day IL (leg), Slade Cecconi: 15-Day IL (arm)

Royals: Michael Massey: 7-Day IL (head), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow), Maikel Garcia: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Carlos Estevez: 60-Day IL (foot), Nick Mears: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Connor Seabold: 60-Day IL (lat), Tony Gonsolin: 15-Day IL (elbow), Luinder Avila: 60-Day IL (forearm), Cole Ragans: 60-Day IL (elbow), Stephen Kolek: 60-Day IL (flexor), Jonathan India: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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