Royals at Indians
The Cleveland Indians hope to avoid losing their second series this season against the last-place Kansas City Royals when they host the finale of a three-game set between American League Central rivals Wednesday afternoon. The Indians, who were swept at Kansas City earlier this year, looked to be on their way to a second victory in the series Tuesday before giving up five runs in the top of the ninth inning and suffering an 8-6 defeat.
Cleveland launched four homers to take a three-run lead into the final frame, including Carlos Santana’s 192nd with the Indians to tie Al Rosen for ninth on the franchise’s all-time list, and Oscar Mercado had two more hits to give him 42 in his first 35 big-league games. Trevor Bauer looks to find his top form after another disappointing performance last time out when he takes the ball for Cleveland on Wednesday and the Royals counter with Jakob Junis, who is second on the team with four victories. Hunter Dozier delivered the big blow for Kansas City on Tuesday with a grand slam as they gave Indians closer Brad Hand his first blown save of the season while finishing with 12 hits overall - five in the ninth inning. Whit Merrifield had two more hits to push his major league-high total to 102 and extend his hitting streak to six games (9-for-26) - improving his numbers against Cleveland this season to 10-for-24.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, FS Kansas City, STO (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Jakob Junis (4-6, 5.18 ERA) vs. Indians RH Trevor Bauer (5-6, 3.69)
Junis has allowed three or fewer runs in five of his last six starts, including Friday when he yielded three runs (two earned) with a season high-tying eight strikeouts over six innings in a no-decision against Minnesota. The 26-year-old Illinois native is 0-1 with a 4.64 ERA in four starts this month with 23 strikeouts across 21 1/3 frames. Francisco Lindor is 7-for-16 with three homers versus Junis, who gave up five runs over 6 1/3 innings in a no-decision against Cleveland on April 14.
Bauer could not build on his best start of the campaign, permitting five runs on 10 hits (two homers) in a no-decision against Detroit on Friday. The 28-year-old UCLA product had posted the first shutout of his career five days earlier when he blanked the same Tigers on four hits with eight strikeouts and zero walks while tossing 117 pitches. Merrifield is 6-for-20 with a pair of doubles against Bauer, who is 3-4 with a 3.01 ERA in 14 career appearances (13 starts) versus the Royals.
WALK-OFFS
1. Kansas City INF Cheslor Cuthbert is 8-for-21 during a five-game hitting streak and boasts 14 hits in his past 10 contests.
2. Cleveland 1B-LF Jake Bauers (ankle) has missed the last three games, but could return this week.
3. Royals INF Nicky Lopez is 12-for-31 over his last eight games and has knocked in one run each the past three contests.