Cleveland @ Kansas City preview
Kauffman Stadium
Last Meeting ( May 20, 2010 ) Kansas City 9, Cleveland 3
Other than pride, the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals haven't had much to play for this season.
Pride, though, may be enough of a motivating factor when the teams meet in the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday night at Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals and Indians are joined at the hip at the bottom of the AL Central standings, sporting identical 49-69 records.
Thanks to a quirk in the schedule, the teams have met just five times thus far, so this three-game set marks the first of four series to be played between the clubs over the final seven weeks of the season.
The 13 head-to-head meetings will give the teams a chance to avoid a repeat of a year ago, when they both finished 65-97 and in the basement of the AL Central.
Kansas City, which is in the midst of a 10-game homestand, is coming off a four-game series split with the New York Yankees.
In Tuesday's opener, the Royals will hand the ball to ace Zack Greinke (7-11), who has been trying to climb out of a 1-8 hole to start his season.
The reigning Cy Young Award winner, Greinke has had just one decent stretch to the season, when he went 4-0 with a no-decision in a string of five starts from mid-June to early July.
The 26-year-old right-hander was victorious in his only start against the Indians this season, giving up three runs on eight hits while striking out eight in eight innings.
Greinke faced Cleveland five times in last year's Cy Young-winning campaign, going 2-0 with three no-decisions. Among the outings was a spectacular 15-strikeout effort on Aug. 25. Still, he is only 7-8 in 24 appearances - 19 starts - with a 3.52 ERA lifetime against the Indians.
Promising rookie right-hander Jeanmar Gomez (3-0, 1.54 ERA) will oppose Greinke and looks to continue his stellar start to the season.
Gomez, 22, has allowed just six runs and 20 hits over his first four starts spanning 23 1/3 innings. Last time out, he limited the Baltimore Orioles to one run on six hits in six innings of a 4-1 victory.
The Indians, who are kicking off a six-game road trip, averted a sweep with a 9-1 victory over Seattle on Sunday. Travis Hafner, in his first game off the disabled list, belted a grand slam – the 11th of his career – to power Cleveland.
Hafner’s return comes at an opportune time – he is batting .314 lifetime (11-for-35) against Greinke.
Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera also has had success against Greinke, batting .458 (11-for-24) lifetime. Cabrera carries a six-game hitting streak into the series, including four straight multi-hit games.