It’s Monday, August 26, and the Kansas City Royals (72-58) are in Cleveland for a massive afternoon tilt against the Guardians (75-55).
Kansas City trails Cleveland by 3 games in the American League Central.
Cleveland has come back to the Royals and Twins in the Central since the All-Star Break but righted the ship a bit this weekend winning both Saturday and Sunday against Texas.
KC has been tremendous since the Break but sputtered over the weekend losing twice at home to Philadelphia.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first-pitch, projected pitching matchup, lineup cards, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Royals vs. Guardians live today
● Date: Monday, August 26, 2024
● Time: 1:10PM EST
● Site: Progressive Field
● City: Cleveland, OH
● TV/Streaming: BSKS, BSGL, MLBN
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Game odds for Royals vs. Guardians
The latest odds as of Monday morning:
● Money Line: Royals -130, Guardians +105
● Spread: Royals -1.5 (+135), Guardians +1.5 (-160)
● Over/Under: 8 runs
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Recent team stats for Royals vs. Guardians
● The Royals have lost 2 straight but are 7-3 in their last 10. KC is 31-30 on the road this season. Their overall run differential for the season is +96.
● Cleveland has won 2 in a row but the Guardians are just 4-6 in their last 10. Cleveland is one of the best home teams in the league sporting a record of 40-21 at Progressive Field this season. Their overall run differential for the season is +77.
Probable starting pitchers for Royals vs. Guardians
● Today’s pitching matchup (August 26): Cole Ragans vs. Nick Sandlin
○ Royals: Ragans (10-8, 3.31 ERA) has allowed 56 earned runs and 125 hits while striking out 183 over 152.1 innings
○ Guardians: Sandlin (7-0, 3.88 ERA) has allowed 20 earned runs and 34 hits while striking out 53 over 46.1 innings
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Royals vs. Guardians on August 26, 2024
● Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals with a .347 average
● Steven Kwan is batting .304 to lead the Cleveland attack
● Who’s Hot? Cole Ragans is 3-1 in August with an ERA of 3.00. He’s allowed 8 earned runs in 24 innings while striking out 30.
● Who’s Not! Jose Ramirez did pick up a hit for the Guardians yesterday but he is just 4-27 over his last 8 games (.148)
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions for Monday’s Royals vs. Guardians game
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for today’s Royals vs. Guardians game:
- Moneyline: NBC Sports is recommending a play on the Royals on the Moneyline
- Spread: NBC Sports is recommending a play on the Royals on the Run Line
- Total runs: NBC Sports is recommending a play on the Total OVER 8 runs
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC Sports for money line, spread and total picks for each of the games on today’s calendar!
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- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
- Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
- Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
- Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)
