Tuesday September 21 Kansas City Royals vs. Cleveland Indians Betting Preview

Tuesday features an AL Central showdown as the Kansas City Royals (69-82) take on the Cleveland Indians (73-76). The Indians will host this one at Progressive Field with the first pitch scheduled for 6:10 pm ET.

This will be the third of a four-game series between the two teams. The Royals took both ends of a doubleheader on Monday, winning 7-2 and 4-2.

Between the two games, Salvador Perez went three for six with a home run, two runs batted in, and two runs scored. Hunter Dozier and Andrew Benintendi also homered on the day.

In two games, the Indians were only able to manage ten total hits and four runs. They did get home runs from Andres Gimenez and Bobby Bradley in Game 2, but it still wasn’t enough to get a win.

The Indians are the favorites to win Tuesday’s game playing at home. They are -148 to win while the Royals’ Moneyline sits at +126. The runline features Kansas City +1.5 (-152), and the over/under for total runs is 9.5.

Pitching Matchup

The Royals will turn to lefty Daniel Lynch on Tuesday. On the season, he is 4-5 with a 5.34 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, and has struck out 48 in 59 innings.

The Indians will turn to one of their best starters this year in righty Cal Quantrill. He is 6-3 with a 2.89 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and has 110 strikeouts in 137 innings. In his last seven games, he is 3-1 with a 2.38 ERA.

By The Number

Throughout the season, Cleveland has had the stronger of the two offenses. The Indians currently rank 17th in scoring averaging 4.45 runs per game. The Royals rank 23rd averaging 4.26 runs (3.86 on the road).

Defensively, it is again the Indians with the edge. They currently rank 15th in scoring defense allowing opponents an average of 4.53 runs per game. The Royals rank 22nd allowing 4.92 runs.

Salvador Perez Continues To Make History

Currently sitting 16.5 games back of the Chicago White Sox, any chances of the postseason are a thing of the past. While the postseason may not be in the picture, the Royals are still making history.

More specifically, catcher Salvador Perez is making history. With his home run on Monday, Perez has set a new record for home runs by a catcher in a season, breaking a record previously held by Johnny Bench.

In total, Perez now has 46 home runs, 115 runs batted in, and 82 runs scored to go along with a batting line of .276/.317/.548.

Perez is one for three against Quantrill with a home run, and he is hoping to get to the righty again on Tuesday.

Indians Trying To Get To .500 At Home

At 73-76, the Indians currently sit in second place in the AL Central, but still trail the White Sox by 11.5 games. One area where they have been especially disappointing is at home.

To date, the Indians are just 36-38 at Progressive Field. Trying to find the positives in a lost season, Cleveland is hoping to inch closer to being .500 at home.

Leading the way for Cleveland is third baseman, Jose Ramirez. On the season, he is hitting .264/.356/.549 with a team-leading 35 home runs, 96 runs batted in, 103 runs scored, and 24 stolen bases.

His solid play has him tied for the fourth-best odds of winning the AL MVP at +20000.

Over the last couple of weeks, it has been Franmil Reyes who has performed the best for Cleveland’s offense. In that span, he is hitting .260/.288/.540 with four home runs, 10 runs batted in, and seven runs scored.

Indians Have Good Opportunity To Pick Up Win

Sometimes the saying is that you are only as good as the next day’s starter. In this case, that should give Indians’ fans a lot of encouragement.

Cal Quantrill has been solid, if not spectacular, for most of the season. He has been especially strong over his last seven games, and he should have a good opportunity to carry it over to Tuesday’s start.

Obviously, the Indians would love to get some more run support from the offense, but Quantrill has the ability to take care of matters himself.