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Royals host high-powered Indians Monday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 7/18/2016  at  1:10:00 PM
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CLEVELAND INDIANS (54-37)

at KANSAS CITY ROYALS (46-45)

First pitch: Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET
Line: Cleveland -140, Kansas City +130, Total: 8.0

The Royals will be looking to get back on track with a home victory over the Indians on Monday.

Kansas City has really been struggling recently, losing three of its past four games and seven of its past 10 as well. The Royals were the World Series champions a year ago and now find themselves in a real dogfight just to get back into the playoffs this season. They’ll need to turn things around in the second half of the season, but it won’t be easy with the Indians in town. Cleveland took two of its three games in a set with the Twins last series, and the team currently sits atop the AL Central. The Indians should be feeling confident coming into this one, as they have been almost as good on the road as they have at home this season. They are 28-21 when playing away from home on the year and will be hoping to make a statement against a Royals team that is outstanding at Kauffman Stadium. One trend worth keeping an eye on in this game is the fact that the Indians are 31-11 against the money line when the total is 8 to 8.5 this season. The starting pitching matchup in this game should be a good one to watch, as RHP Corey Kluber (9-8, 3.61 ERA, 122 K) is on the mound for Cleveland and RHP Edinson Volquez (8-8, 4.85 ERA, 85 K) is taking the ball for Kansas City. OF Lorenzo Cain (Hamstring) does, however, remain out for the Royals and his absence has been felt by the team.

The Indians have been one of the best teams in baseball this season and they’ll be hoping to continue to play well in the second half of the season. A road victory in this series over the Royals would certainly be a good start for the team and Kluber will be the guy that is tasked with shutting down Kansas City on Monday. The former Cy Young winner was dominant in his last outing, allowing just one earned run in eight innings against the Yankees on Jul. 8. He struck out eight batters in that game and walked just one. He did, however, struggle in his last start against Kansas City, allowing five earned runs in five innings of work. He’ll need to be a lot better than that this time around. Offensively, three guys to watch out for are OF Lonnie Chisenhall (.299, 6 HR, 29 RBI), 2B Jason Kipnis (.280, 15 HR, 51 RBI) and DH Carlos Santana (.257, 20 HR, 51 RBI). Chisenhall and Kipnis have done some solid hitting against Volquez in their careers, going 13-for-33 with four doubles and four RBI against the starter. Santana, meanwhile, doesn’t have many hits against Volquez, but he does have two homers against the starter. He’ll be hoping to go yard again in this one.

After a string of lousy performances in the middle of June, Edinson Volquez has settled in and performed admirably in his past three starts. In those outings, Volquez has allowed just seven earned runs in 18.2 innings of work. The Royals desperately need him to pitch like that the rest of the way and he should be able to come out and perform at a high level on Monday. The last time Volquez faced the Indians, he allowed no earned runs in seven innings of work. He did, however, walk four batters in that game and he would be doing himself a great favor if he can keep his control in check on Monday. The guys to keep an eye on in this lineup are 1B Eric Hosmer (.299, 13 HR, 51 RBI) and C Salvador Perez (.282, 14 HR, 42 RBI). Hosmer is one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball and has also done pretty well against Kluber in his career, going 13-for-45 with six doubles, three homers and 13 RBI against the pitcher. Perez, meanwhile, is just 5-for-28 versus Kluber, but he does have a homer and five RBI in the matchup. He is another guy with some serious pop and can change the game with one swing of the bat on any given night.


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