Royals play the Guardians leading series 1-0

Aug 29, 2026, 04:02 am

Kansas City Royals (61-75, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Cleveland Guardians (68-67, second in the AL Central)

Cleveland; Saturday, 4:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Daniel Lynch (4-4, 2.93 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 43 strikeouts); Guardians: Foster Griffin (15-4, 3.19 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 135 strikeouts)

LINE: Guardians -153, Royals +127; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals take a 1-0 lead into the next game of the series against the Cleveland Guardians.

Cleveland is 31-35 at home and 68-67 overall. The Guardians are 52-24 in games when they record eight or more hits.

Kansas City is 61-75 overall and 25-45 on the road. The Royals have the eighth-ranked team on-base percentage in the AL at .316.

Saturday's game is the ninth time these teams square off this season. The season series is tied 4-4.

TOP PERFORMERS: Chase DeLauter has 22 doubles, three triples and 13 home runs for the Guardians. Jose Ramirez is 13 for 43 with four doubles and six RBI over the past 10 games.

Jac Caglianone has 24 doubles, two triples, 23 home runs and 66 RBI while hitting .283 for the Royals. Michael Massey is 14 for 31 with two doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 8-2, .278 batting average, 2.27 ERA, outscored opponents by 25 runs

Royals: 9-1, .299 batting average, 2.93 ERA, outscored opponents by 29 runs

INJURIES: Guardians: Chase DeLauter: day-to-day (hamstring), Rhys Hoskins: 10-Day IL (back), Shawn Armstrong: 60-Day IL (leg), Slade Cecconi: 15-Day IL (arm)

Royals: Michael Massey: 7-Day IL (head), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow), Maikel Garcia: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Carlos Estevez: 60-Day IL (foot), Nick Mears: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Connor Seabold: 60-Day IL (lat), Tony Gonsolin: 15-Day IL (elbow), Luinder Avila: 60-Day IL (forearm), Cole Ragans: 60-Day IL (elbow), Stephen Kolek: 60-Day IL (flexor), Jonathan India: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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