Cleveland Guardians vs. Kansas City Royals July 8 Betting Preview

Having been swept by the Detroit Tigers in four games to start the week, the Cleveland Guardians (40-40) will try to bounce back as they take on the Kansas City Royals (30-51) over the weekend.

Kansas City will host this one at Kauffman Stadium, with the first pitch in Friday’s opener scheduled for 8:10 pm ET.

Cleveland enjoyed a much-needed off-day on Thursday but started the week against the Tigers, where they were outscored 28 to 10 over the four games.

The Royals didn’t fare too much better as they lost three of four to the Houston Astros to start the week. In Thursday’s finale, they lost 5-2.

Guardians vs. Royals July 8 Betting Odds

The Royals are the slight favorites playing at home Friday. They are -120 to win while the Guardians’ moneyline sits at +102. The runline features Cleveland +1.5 (-196), and the over/under for total runs is 8.5.

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July 8 Guardians Pitching Matchup

Cleveland will send righty Aaron Civale to the bump for the opener. In 10 games, he is 2-6 with a 7.04 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, and has 45 strikeouts in 46 innings. Civale has taken losses in back-to-back outings, giving up a combined seven runs on 13 hits in just ten innings of work.

The Royals will counter with a righty of their own in 25-year-old Brady Singer. In 12 games, he is 3-3 with a 4.30 ERA, and 1.21 WHIP, and he has 58 strikeouts in 58.2 innings.

Cleveland Looking For Answers

It seemed like not too long ago that the Guardians were leading the AL Central. Having lost seven of their last ten games, though, they now sit in second in the division, 4.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins.

The Guardians are looking for answers and have dipped into their minors to see if they can help. The Guardians announced that they are calling up one of their top prospects, Nolan Jones, to join the team in the Royals’ series.

In 90 at bats with Triple-A, Jones is hitting .311/.417/.500 with three home runs, 25 runs batted in, 21 runs scored, and four stolen bases. The numbers are even more impressive when taking into account that he started the season on the shelf after having ankle surgery.

Regardless, Terry Francona is trying to find something to help an offense that ranks 19th in scoring, averaging just 4.26 runs per game.

Royals Looking To Get Pitching To Back Bats

The Kansas City Royals scored a combined 22 runs in four games against the Houston Astros. In fact, they scored first in every single game. The problem, though, is that their pitching faltered in three of the four games as the Astros ultimately won the series.

With that in mind, the Royals will turn to their young righty Brady Singer to try to give the offense some support on the mound.

One of the most impressive hitters for the Royals this season has been Andrew Benintendi. A likely trade piece over the next month, Benintendi is hitting .319/.388/.405 with three home runs, 33 runs batted in, and 34 runs.

Bobby Witt Jr.’s availability this weekend is still up in the air. The rookie phenom was hit by a pitch Tuesday, and while x-rays came back negative, he did not play the last two games of the series against Houston.

In 297 at bats, Witt is hitting .236/.286/.444 with a team-leading 12 home runs and 42 runs batted in. He also has 43 runs scored and 12 stolen bases.

Guardians Need To Start Fresh On Friday

It has been a rough week for the Guardians, but the team has a chance to salvage at least some semblance of success as they take on the Royals this weekend. Kansas City is just 14-25 at home this year, while the Guardians are 20-23 on the road.

While Cleveland is just 1-6 in their last seven games, they are 12-4 in their last 16 on the road at Kauffman Stadium.

Both the pitching and hitting need to be better for Cleveland. Hopefully, for Guardians’ fans, the day off on Thursday helped the team reset, and they can get back into the win column starting Friday.