The Cleveland Guardians have clawed their way back to within striking distance of the American League Central division-leading Minnesota Twins and will look to build on their recent 5-2 run when they face the Kansas City Royals on the road on Tuesday.
Cleveland Guardians (-145, 9) vs. Kansas City Royals
Rookie Gavin Williams gets his second career start after allowing four runs across 5 2/3 innings in his MLB debut, but the circumstance should allow him to have more success after making 12 starts between Double-A and Triple-A with a 2.39 ERA with 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings this season.
Williams is backed up by a Guardians bullpen that is second in the league in ERA and coming off a day of rest on Monday and both Williams and the bullpen get to face a Royals lineup that ranks 28th among the 30 MLB teams in on-base percentage and runs per game.
The Guardians’ offense is on-par with the Royals’ offense, ranked 27th entering Tuesday in runs per game and last in the league in home runs.
Royals starting pitcher Brady Singer will look to take advantage of Cleveland’s low-scoring offense and get his season back on track with his 6.34 ERA and underlying numbers showing he’s pitched better than his ERA would indicate.
Singer’s fielding independent is 4.51 and he is allowing 1.2 home runs per nine innings, which aligns with his career numbers — his career ERA mirrors his fielding independent at 4.43.
In his last seven starts, Singer has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five of them and with two of the bottom four teams in the league in runs per game hooking up, pitching will rule the night in Kansas City on Tuesday.
The Play: Guardians vs. Royals Under 9
