Royals-Indians series preview, probable pitchers: Division favorites visit The K
Matchup: The Royals host the Cleveland Indians in a three-game series starting Friday at Kauffman Stadium. Friday’s first pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m., while Saturday’s will be 6:15 p.m. Sunday afternoon’s game is scheduled for a 1:15 p.m. start time.
TV/Radio: Fox Sports Kansas City will televise all three games, and KCSP 610 AM will broadcast each of the games on the radio.
Probable rotations: Cleveland: Carlos Carrasco (rh, 1-1, 7.71), Jefry Rodriguez (rh, 0-0, 0.00), Corey Kluber (rh, 1-2, 3.86); Kansas City: Brad Keller (rh, 1-2, 2.84), Homer Bailey (rh, 0-1, 9.00), Jakob Junis (rh, 1-1, 5.74).
Indians notes: Coming off of a 4-0 shutout win over Detroit on Thursday, the Indians have won 6 of 7 games. Carlos Santana enters the series batting .425 with a .521 on-base percentage after a 3-for-3 performance Thursday. Santana went into Thursday batting .500 against left-handed pitching. … Pitcher Jefry Rodriguez, Saturday’s probably starter, will be making his first start of the season for the Indians. The native of the Dominican Republic began the season at Class AAA Columbus where he made one start and allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out three in 5 2/3 innings. The Indians acquired Rodriguez from the Nationals with OF Daniel Johnson and a player to be named in exchange for catcher Yan Gomes on Nov. 30, 2018. … The Indians placed right-handed pitcher Mike Clevinger on the 10-day injured list retroactive to April 8 with a right upper back/teres major muscle strain. He hadn’t allowed a run in 12.0 innings pitched over two starts to this season.
Royals notes: The Royals will try to snap a 10-game losing streak since winning back-to-back games at the start of the season. They’re coming off of being swept in a series by the Seattle Mariners at Kauffman Stadium. … Whit Merrifield’s franchise-record hitting streak stopped at 31 games after he went 0 for 6 in a loss Thursday. The hitting streak dated back to September 10, 2018. Merrifield batted .326 with a .379 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage during that streak. It was the longest streak since Dan Uggla’s 31-game streak in 2011, and Merrfield’s was the longest in the American League since Paul Molitor’s 39-game streak in 1987. … Third baseman Hunter Dozier and designated hitter/outfielder Jorge Soler homered in the same game in back-to-back games Wednesday and Thursday. They’re the first Royals teammates to homer in consecutive games since Alex Gordon and Eric Hosmer on Aug. 16-17, 2016. Dozier also collected the first three-hit game of his career on Thursday, and he homered in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. ... Royals center fielder Billy Hamilton left Thursday’s game with a knee injury. He has a mild MCL sprain in left knee and is listed as “day-to-day.” He’d played in every game this season.
This story was originally published April 11, 2019 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Royals-Indians series preview, probable pitchers: Division favorites visit The K."
