baseball | Monday, September 5, 2022 10:34 AM (Revised at: Monday, September 5, 2022 10:35 AM)

Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Moneyline Best Bet: Singer Does Enough for Royals to Win

Sam Cox

Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Moneyline Best Bet: Monday, September 5th

The Kansas City Royals come off a series win over the Detroit Tigers to take on the Cleveland Guardians on Monday night. These teams have already matched up 10 times this season prior to this three-game set, with the Guardians holding a 6-4 record in those contests. Cleveland is naturally favoured here, despite losing their last five games and being shutout three times in the process.

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Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Preview
Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Best Bet

Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Preview

Tue, Sep 6. 01:10 (UK time)

Cleveland gives the ball to Triston McKenzie as they look to stop the rot. Minnesota is keeping the pressure on at the top of the American League Central, and the Guardians will be desperate to take advantage of this series before they face the Twins later this week. Kansas City has nothing to play for down the stretch once again, but the 2015 World Series champions have gone 19-24 in the second half, representing an improvement on their pre-All-Star mark of 36-56.

McKenzie has been stellar this year, pitching to an ERA of just 3.18. His expected ERA is closer to four, however, and he has given up two or more earned runs in his last four starts. While above average, he isn’t a dominant arm, and will give hitters a chance.

Brady Singer is on the bump for the home team. Singer has a very similar outcome and expected figures to McKenzie, but his season-long numbers tell just part of the story. The former first-round pick was lit up in June. Since then, he has been elite, good for a 2.05 ERA in July and 2.92 in August. The four runs allowed to the White Sox in his last start is likely no more than a blip – he has allowed one or zero runs in five of his last eight starts.

Despite the massive gap between these teams in the standings, Kansas City also has the edge at the plate. Their offence has been a shade below league average over the last month (99 wRC+), while Cleveland is down at 83 wRC+ and has been ice-cold over the last week.

Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Preview

The Guardians are more dependent on their relief corps than ever. Their bullpen has been by far the best in the Majors since August 5th, but that cannot help generate run support against a pitcher like Singer.

It’s understandable for the Royals to be underdogs up against McKenzie. Still, the woes of Cleveland’s offence make Kansas City a good value wager to win on Monday night behind one of the American League’s best young arms. Three or four runs could be enough for the Royals to get the win.