Cleveland Guardians (19-19, first in the AL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (17-20, fourth in the AL Central)

Kansas City, Missouri; Thursday, 2:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Guardians: Slade Cecconi (1-4, 6.56 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 28 strikeouts); Royals: Seth Lugo (1-1, 2.68 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 37 strikeouts)

LINE: Royals -143, Guardians +120; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals play the Cleveland Guardians, leading the series 2-1.

Kansas City is 11-8 at home and 17-20 overall. The Royals have a 3-5 record in games decided by one run.

Cleveland has a 19-19 record overall and a 10-12 record on the road. The Guardians have an 8-2 record in games when they hit two or more home runs.

The teams square off Thursday for the seventh time this season. The season series is tied 3-3.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bobby Witt Jr. has 10 doubles, a triple, three home runs and 16 RBIs for the Royals. Jac Caglianone is 6 for 28 with three home runs and six RBIs over the last 10 games.

Jose Ramirez has eight doubles and six home runs for the Guardians. Chase DeLauter is 18 for 35 with four doubles and a home run over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 7-3, .240 batting average, 3.56 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs

Guardians: 4-6, .225 batting average, 3.87 ERA, outscored by one run

INJURIES: Royals: Cole Ragans: day-to-day (tricep/elbow), Carlos Estevez: 15-Day IL (foot), Bailey Falter: 15-Day IL (elbow), Jonathan India: 10-Day IL (shoulder), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Guardians: Shawn Armstrong: 15-Day IL (groin), Gabriel Arias: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Andrew Walters: 15-Day IL (lat)

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

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