Royals at Indians
The defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals are having trouble keeping the momentum moving in a positive direction so far in 2016. The Royals will try to avoid their fourth straight series loss when they visit the Cleveland Indians in the rubber match of a three-game set on Sunday.
The American League Central rivals traded strong pitching performances in the first two games of the series, with the Indians riding Danny Salazar to a 7-1 victory in Friday’s opener and Kansas City getting seven strong innings from Ian Kennedy in Saturday’s 7-0 win. The seven-run outburst was a rarity for the Royals, who are operating without their leading home run hitter after third baseman Mike Moustakas was placed on the disabled list with a fractured thumb. Cheslor Cuthbert went 1-for-4 with an RBI single in his season debut while starting in place of Moustakas on Saturday. Cleveland had a four-game winning streak come to an end with the loss and is looking for a second straight series win against a division opponent after sweeping the Detroit Tigers during the week.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, FSN Kansas City, SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Edinson Volquez (3-2, 3.13 ERA) vs. Indians RH Josh Tomlin (4-0, 3.13)
Volquez surrendered two or fewer runs in five of his six starts and bounced back from his worst outing by holding the Washington Nationals to two runs in 7 2/3 innings on Monday. The Dominican Republic native could not get any support and absorbed the loss in that outing, giving him two straight setbacks after a debacle at the Los Angeles Angels on April 26 in which he was reached for eight runs in five innings. Volquez doesn’t quite have a handle on how to pitch to Cleveland and is 2-4 with an 8.01 ERA in seven career starts against the Indians.
Tomlin is undefeated in four starts and has issued a total of two walks in 23 innings. The 31-year-old Texan yielded nine hits in six innings against Detroit on Tuesday but limited the damage to two runs while striking out five. Tomlin is 6-4 with a 5.11 ERA in 16 career games – 12 starts – against the Royals but held Kansas City to two runs in a complete-game effort at home last season on Sept. 15.
WALK-OFFS
1. Royals DH Kendrys Morales homered on Saturday – his first blast since April 11.
2. Cleveland SS Francisco Lindor is 12-for-27 with six runs scored in the last seven games.
3. Moustakas is expected to miss two-to-three weeks with the fractured left thumb.