Indians at Royals
The Kansas City Royals have put themselves into an early hole thanks to the majors' worst offense, although Eric Hosmer has been more than holding up his end of the bargain lately. The red-hot first baseman looks to extend his hitting streak to 10 games and help the Royals win consecutive games for the first time in nearly three weeks Saturday when they continue a three-game series with the visiting Cleveland Indians.
After posting only one multi-hit effort and batting .192 over his first 19 games, Hosmer is 15-for-34 since and has produced two or more hits four times during his streak - including in each of the last three contests. The 2016 All-Star Game MVP belted a mammoth two-run homer and finished a triple short of the cycle in Friday's 3-1 series-opening victory against Cleveland, putting Kansas City - which is a American League Central-worst 10-18 and has scored 25 fewer runs than any other team - on the verge of their first winning streak since taking four in a row from April 13-16. The Indians struggled to find offense against previously winless Jason Hammel in the opener and have scored a total of seven runs four games into their nine-game road trip. Cleveland could be in for more of the same Saturday against Jason Vargas, who has allowed one run or fewer in four of his five outings.
TV: 4:15 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1, SportsTime Ohio (Cleveland)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Indians RH Josh Tomlin (2-3, 8.87 ERA) vs. Royals LH Jason Vargas (4-1, 1.42)
Tomlin has rebounded slightly from a rough 0-2 start during which he posted an 18.47 ERA to go 2-1 with a 5.29 mark over his last three outings, including Sunday's win versus Seattle in which he allowed four runs over five innings. The 32-year-old Texan was coming off consecutive quality starts against Minnesota and Houston but has permitted at least seven hits in each of his turns. Tomlin fared well in five starts versus the Royals in 2016, however, going 3-0 with a 2.43 ERA.
Despite striking out only one and walking more hitters (three) than he did in his first four turns combined (two), Vargas stopped the Royals' nine-game losing streak Monday after giving up only one run to the Chicago White Sox across six innings. The Long Beach State product, who made just 12 starts over the previous two years, has given up only one home run in 2017. Vargas is 6-3 with a 4.68 ERA in 13 starts versus the Indians and 5-0 with a 2.08 ERA in his last nine turns at Kauffman Stadium.
WALK-OFFS
1. Friday's victory ended Kansas City's eight-game losing streak against Cleveland.
2. Indians DH Edwin Encarnacion has hit four of his five homers and tallied nine of his 11 RBIs this season on the road.
3. The Royals placed RHP Ian Kennedy on the 10-day disabled list Friday and recalled RHP Miguel Almonte from Double-A Northwest Arkansas.