Indians at Royals
The Cleveland Indians look to continue their lengthy run of success when they visit the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday for the middle contest of their three-game set. The Indians posted a 9-5 victory in Tuesday's series opener to win for the 17th time in their last 25 contests.
Jake Bauers (three RBIs) and Tyler Naquin each went 4-for-5 on Tuesday to fuel a 13-hit attack as Cleveland improved to 3-4 against Kansas City this season. The hot-hitting Carlos Santana went 2-for-4 with a walk while extending his on-base streak to 25 games and is 13-for-30 with one homer versus scheduled Royals starter Danny Duffy. Kansas City's Jorge Soler hit a 451-foot homer to increase his season total to 23 and is a scorching 6-for-9 with three doubles against scheduled Indians starter Mike Clevinger. The Royals have struggled versus Clevinger, who is 6-0 with a 2.25 ERA in 10 career appearances (nine starts) against them.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland), FS Kansas City
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Mike Clevinger (1-2, 5.89 ERA) vs. Royals LH Danny Duffy (3-4, 4.43)
Clevinger was roughed up badly by Baltimore on Friday, when he gave up a career-worst seven runs in just 1 2/3 innings. The 28-year-old missed more than two months with a back injury before losing to Texas on June 17 and then landed on the injured list with a sprained left ankle before struggling against the Orioles. Clevinger is 3-0 with a 1.89 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) at Kauffman Stadium.
Duffy has gone 0-3 over seven starts since defeating the Los Angeles Angels on May 19. The 31-year-old lost to Toronto in his last start as he gave up three runs and seven hits (two homers) in 6 2/3 innings while registering a season-best eight strikeouts. Duffy has endured many tough outings against Cleveland as he stands 2-10 with a 5.68 ERA in 19 career appearances (15 starts).
WALK-OFFS
1. The Royals activated SS Adalberto Mondesi (groin) - who homered on Tuesday - from the 10-day injured list, recalled RHP Jake Newberry from Omaha and optioned SS Humberto Arteaga and RHP Scott Barlow to the Triple-A affiliate.
2. Indians 2B Jason Kipnis was hitless in four at-bats in the series opener and is 4-for-22 over his last six games.
3. Kansas City All-Star RF-2B Whit Merrifield recorded three hits on Tuesday for his sixth multi-hit effort in the last nine contests.