A pair of AL Central teams on opposite ends of the standings close out the regular season with a contest against each other on the shores of Lake Erie. The Kansas City Royals are on the road as they finish up a three-game series with the Cleveland Guardians Wednesday afternoon. In the opening game of the series Monday night, it was the Royals picking up a 5-2 win in 10 innings to draw first blood. Will the Royals earn a series win and close the year on a positive note or could the Guardians find a way to win their regular season finale to head to the postseason with momentum? This article was published prior to the conclusion of the middle game of the set at Progressive Field Tuesday night.
Kansas City evened up this weird season-ending six-game series on the road by prevailing in extra innings Monday night. The Royals entered Tuesday last in the AL Central, 1.5 games behind fourth-place Detroit, and hope for a good offseason to lead into 2023. On Monday night, Kansas City got two of their six hits from Drew Waters (run, four RBI), including a game-winning three-run homer, his fifth of the year, in the 10th inning. Zack Greinke didn’t factor in the decision as he threw six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits with one walk and one strikeout in his final start of the year. Scott Barlow (7-4) earned the win with a scoreless ninth, striking out one, while Taylor Clarke fanned two in a scoreless 10th to record his third save.
Jon Heasley is on the mound for the Royals as he makes his 21st start of the season in this contest. He comes in 4-9 with a 5.00 ERA, a 1.455 WHIP, 45 walks and 66 strikeouts over 99 innings of work this season. Heasley took the loss in his last start, which came Thursday on the road against the Tigers. He threw 4.2 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits with one walk and one strikeout in an eventual 10-3 Royals loss. In his last three starts, Heasley is 1-1 with a 2.60 ERA, a 0.92 WHIP, six walks and nine strikeouts over 17.1 innings of work. Heasley makes his third career start against the Guardians in this contest. He is 0-1 with a 9.82 ERA, a 2.046 WHIP, three walks and five strikeouts over 7.1 innings of work against them. Heasley didn’t factor in the decision in his lone career start at Progressive Field, which came back on May 30. In that game, he threw six innings, allowing three runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts in a 7-3 Royals loss.