Cleveland Guardians at Kansas City Royals 7/9/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Cleveland Guardians play the second game of a three-game series on the road Saturday against the Kansas City Royals. Cleveland is 40-40 following its 8-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday. Cleveland has lost four straight and six of the last seven. The Guardians are second in the American League Central, 4 ½ games behind the first-place Minnesota Twins. 

Second baseman Andres Gimenez is batting .298 to lead Cleveland. Third baseman Jose Ramirez has 16 home runs, 63 RBIs, 83 hits and an on-base percentage of .369 to lead the Guardians in each category. Josh Naylor is second in home runs with 11. On Saturday, the Cleveland Guardians will send Triston McKenzie to the mound. The right-hander is 5-6 with a 3.71 ERA, 80 Ks and 22 BBs.

Kansas City is 30-51 following its 5-2 loss to the Houston Astros on Thursday. Kansas City managed eight hits against Houston's Justin Verlander but the Royals left eight runners stranded on base. Kris Bubic suffered the loss for Kansas City after allowing three runs on four hits and dropped to 1-6. Kansas City is last in the American League Central, 15 games behind first-place Houston.

Andrew Benintendi is batting .319 to lead Kansas City and the left fielder has team highs in hits with 96 and an on-base percentage of .388. Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr is the leader in home runs with 12 and RBIs with 42. On Saturday, the Kansas City Royals will send Jonathan Heasley to the mound. The right-hander is 1-4 with a 4.76 ERA, 38 Ks and 26 BBs.