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Red-hot Royals face Indians on Thursday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 6/2/2016  at  12:10:00 PM
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KANSAS CITY ROYALS (30-22)

at CLEVELAND INDIANS (27-24)

First pitch: Thursday, 7:10 p.m. ET
Line: Kansas City +150, Cleveland -160, Total: 7.5

The Royals will be looking to win their seventh straight game when they take on the Indians on Thursday.

Kansas City has been on fire recently, as the team has now won six straight games and 10 of its past 12 as well. The Royals have been getting it done offensively, as they have now scored five or more runs in nine consecutive games. They’re going to be a tough team to beat as long as they are putting that many runs on the board. The Indians, meanwhile, defeated the Rangers 5-4 on Wednesday. That victory snapped a three-game losing streak and this team is going to need to get some better production out of its rotation. The Indians have allowed four or more runs in six straight games and that is not necessarily a recipe for success. The starters in this game are set to be RHP Yordano Ventura (4-3, 5.17 ERA, 38 K) for Kansas City and RHP Carlos Carrasco (2-0, 2.45 ERA, 20 K) for Cleveland. The Royals are an impressive 9-1 against the money line after three or more consecutive OVERS this season, so they’ll be feeling confident coming into this one. They will, however, be without C Salvador Perez (Quad) for the next couple of games and he is a big part of their lineup.

Yordano Ventura really struggled in his last outing, allowing six earned runs on nine hits in seven innings of work against the White Sox on May 28. Ventura allowed 18 fly balls and that is an uncharacteristically high number for him. He’ll need to keep his pitches down a bit in this game or the Indians are really going to make him pay. Offensively, Kansas City is going to need to find a way to get to Carrasco in this one. The Indians’ starter has dominated the Royals over the past few years, going 4-2 with a 2.03 ERA against the team over the past three seasons. The guys that will be counted on to help change that are 1B Eric Hosmer (.328, 10 HR, 35 RBI) and OF Lorenzo Cain (.305, 8 HR, 34 RBI). The two of them are a combined 11-for-36 with no homers and only three RBI (all from Hosmer) against Carrasco, but they are also the team’s best hitters. Hosmer has 14 RBI over the past seven games and Cain has two homers and nine RBI over the past five contests. If they can stay hot then the Royals should be able to win this one.

Carlos Carrasco has been waiting over a month to get back on the mound and he’ll finally get to do that on Thursday. Carrasco also happens to be facing a Royals team that he has pitched very well against in the past. The last time he faced this team was Sep. 25, 2015, and Carrasco threw a complete game shutout in that one. He only gave up one hit in the game and also struck out 15 batters. It’s not realistic to expect a performance like that coming off of an injury, but he should be feeling confident against a lineup that he has dominated over the years. The run support in this game is going to be an issue, but guys like 2B Jason Kipnis (.266, 7 HR, 29 RBI) and DH Carlos Santana (.227, 9 HR, 25 RBI) could provide some offense in this one. Kipnis is 7-for-25 with a homer and four RBI against Ventura in his career and Santana is 6-for-20 with two homers and four RBI in the matchup. It’d be huge if they can both channel some of that success on Thursday.


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