Cleveland Guardians (73-54) vs Kansas City Royals (71-56)
Game Info: Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 1:10 pm (Progressive Field)
The Line: Betting Odds: Cleveland Guardians -130 / Kansas City Royals +120 — Over/Under:
The Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Guardians meet Wednesday in MLB action from Progressive Field. Here’s a Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Guardians prediction. This will be the final installment in a four-game series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Royals vs Guardians pick. We will examine:
The Kansas City Royals recent form and player performance
The Cleveland Guardians recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Kansas City Royals
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Cleveland Guardians
Recent betting trends in games played between the Royals and Guardians
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Royals vs Guardians game
Kansas City Royals Betting Preview
The Royals took on the Philadelphia Phillies in their last set. Kansas City won the first pair in that series but lost the next two. After a 4-3 makeup win over the Guardians on Monday and a 9-4 nightcap victory, on Tuesday after a lengthy rain delay, the Royals bagged nine hits in a 6-1 win.
In the starter slot for the Royals Wednesday it’ll be Michael Wacha. So far Wacha is 11-6 with a 3.32 ERA in 23 starts. Wacha is 99-60 with a 3.90 ERA in 272 career games (251 starts).
Cleveland Guardians Betting Preview
Over on the Guardians’ side, they played the Texas Rangers in their weekend series. Cleveland managed a sweep in that one with wins 5-3, 13-3 and 4-2. In the Tuesday matchup versus KC, the Guardians gave up three runs in the seventh and couldn’t recover. Starter Gavin Williams posted 5.0 innings with two earned runs.
As starter for Wednesday Cleveland will go with Tanner Bibee. Over his 25 starts so far Bibee is 10-6 with a 3.46 ERA. In 50 starts during his career, Bibee is 20-10 with a 3.21 ERA.
Total Runs Facts
- Ten of the Guardians’ last 12 day games after playing the previous day have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Five of the Royals’ last six day games against AL Central opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Royals’ last three day games against American League opponents.
Cleveland Guardians Player Prop Facts
- Jose Ramirez has hit at least one home run in six of the Guardians’ last 13 games as favorites.
- Jose Ramirez has recorded at least one Double in three of the Guardians’ last four games against AL Central opponents at Progressive Field.
- Jose Ramirez has recorded an RBI in three of the Guardians’ last four games as favorites against AL opponents.
- Jose Ramirez has scored at least one run in 11 of the Guardians’ last 12 games at Progressive Field against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- Steven Kwan has recorded at least one Single in 12 of his last 14 appearances in day games against AL teams that held a winning record.
- Jose Ramirez has recorded at least one hit in 15 of his last 17 home appearances against the Royals.
- Jose Ramirez has recorded at least one total base in 15 of his last 17 home appearances against the Royals.
- Jose Ramirez ranks T6th in the league in Steals (32) this season.
Kansas City Royals Player Prop Facts
- Bobby Witt Jr. has recorded a Double in four of the Royals’ last five games as road underdogs.
- Bobby Witt Jr. has recorded at least one RBI in each of the Royals’ last seven Wednesday games against AL teams that held a winning record.
- Michael Wacha has recorded a win in four of his last five appearances against opponents that held a winning record.
- Michael Wacha has recorded five or more strikeouts in each of his four previous appearances against the Guardians.
- Bobby Witt Jr. has scored at least one run in seven of the Royals’ last eight day games.
- Bobby Witt Jr. has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Royals’ last five games against AL opponents.
- Kyle Isbel has recorded at least one hit in each of his last seven appearances against the Guardians.
- Hunter Renfroe has recorded at least one Single in eight of his last nine appearances in day games.
- Paul DeJong has hit a home run in four of his last five appearances against AL opponents.
- Bobby Witt Jr. ranks 3rd amongst qualified players for Slugging Percentage (.614) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Cleveland Guardians rank 5th in the league for opponent batting average this season (.234).
- The Cleveland Guardians rank T6th in the league for runs allowed this season (535).
- The Kansas City Royals rank 3rd in the league for triples this season (31).
- The Kansas City Royals rank 28th in the league for walks this season (348).
Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Prediction
I’ll lean toward the Royals but I could probably go either way. Wacha is rolling along nicely these days with just four earned in 19.0 innings over his last three starts. He’s 3-0 in that trio. As for Bibee, he’s doing well also with six earned over his last 16.1 innings in three starts. Bibee is just 1-2 in his last three, though.
On Tuesday the Royals had a couple of good innings and did a solid job at not relinquishing their early lead. Kansas City did use a lot of pitchers though, so it’ll be important for Wacha to eat up some innings Wednesday. I think the Royals will be fine though.