Royals aim to stop 3-game skid, play the Guardians

Kansas City Royals (73-72, third in the AL Central) vs. Cleveland Guardians (74-70, second in the AL Central)

Cleveland; Wednesday, 6:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Jonathan Bowlan (1-2, 3.57 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 35 strikeouts); Guardians: Logan Allen (7-11, 4.46 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 109 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Royals -110, Guardians -109; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals are looking to break a three-game slide with a victory against the Cleveland Guardians.

Cleveland has a 74-70 record overall and a 37-33 record at home. Guardians pitchers have a collective 3.88 ERA, which ranks sixth in the AL.

Kansas City is 73-72 overall and 33-37 in road games. The Royals have the second-ranked team ERA in the AL at 3.68.

Wednesday's game is the 12th time these teams match up this season. The Guardians have a 7-4 advantage in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Ramirez leads the Guardians with 28 home runs while slugging .510. Kyle Manzardo is 11 for 34 with four home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games.

Maikel Garcia has 35 doubles, five triples, 16 home runs and 67 RBIs while hitting .290 for the Royals. Michael Massey is 11 for 32 with two doubles over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 6-4, .251 batting average, 3.21 ERA, outscored opponents by 15 runs

Royals: 4-6, .190 batting average, 3.78 ERA, outscored by 11 runs

INJURIES: Guardians: Nic Enright: 15-Day IL (elbow), Lane Thomas: 10-Day IL (foot), Will Brennan: 60-Day IL (forearm), Andrew Walters: 60-Day IL (lat), Ben Lively: 60-Day IL (forearm), John Means: 60-Day IL (elbow), Sam Hentges: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Royals: Michael Wacha: 7-Day IL (concussion), Seth Lugo: 15-Day IL (back), Bailey Falter: 15-Day IL (biceps), Hunter Harvey: 15-Day IL (abductor), Steven Cruz: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Kris Bubic: 60-Day IL (rotator cuff), Cole Ragans: 60-Day IL (rotator cuff), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow)

___

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