Final
Indians-Royals Preview
Aug 19, 2010 - 5:20 AMVideo
Cleveland (49-70) at Kansas City (50-69), 8:10 p.m. EDT
A breakthrough offensive performance pushed the Kansas City Royals to the brink of their longest win streak this season.
The Royals will try to build off that game while attempting to earn their fourth straight win overall and sixth in a row over the Cleveland Indians in Thursday night's series finale at Kauffman Stadium.
Yuniesky Betancourt had two hits and three RBIs on Wednesday night as Kansas City endured a Cleveland rally for a 9-7 victory, scoring its highest run total since June 27. The Royals (51-69) had batted .228 in their previous 14 games - 48 points lower than their season average - and averaged a little more than two runs per contest.
"Every bit of the order we had offensive production," manager Ned Yost said. "All and up down the lineup it was a good night offensively."
Yost's club has also gotten a 2.29 ERA from its starters during its modest win streak.
Kyle Davies (6-7, 5.22 ERA) will try to continue that run while building off his own solid outing, Friday's 4-3 victory over the Yankees. He allowed three runs and seven hits over five innings in that win but hasn't beaten any team but the Yankees since May 28.
After three consecutive victories over Cleveland, Davies was on the wrong end of a 4-0 decision May 12 despite allowing two runs over five innings. He's 3-4 with a 5.79 ERA in seven career starts against the Indians.
This time, he'll face a team that's dropped eight of 10 overall and three straight on the road.
Having lost his past four decisions, Mitch Talbot (8-10, 4.25) seems an unlikely candidate to change those trends. The right-hander, who recently spent time on the disabled list, has a 5.53 ERA over his last six starts but has also received 10 runs of support since his previous win June 27.
He was tagged for six runs over four innings in his return from a strained back in Saturday's 9-3 loss to Seattle.
"I felt pretty well," Talbot told the team's website. "I just missed a lot of spots over the plate. It just wasn't good."
In his only start against Kansas City on May 20, Talbot was reached for six runs over six innings as his team fell by the same 9-3 margin.
A similar performance on Thursday could help the Royals complete their first home sweep of the Indians since May 8-10, 2006.
Travis Hafner, hitting .467 in his last 10 games, is expected to make his return to the lineup after walking in a pinch-hit appearance Wednesday. The Indians designated hitter has three hits in seven at-bats, including a grand slam, since returning from the DL (sore right shoulder) on Sunday.
The Royals haven't won at least four in a row since a five-game run Sept. 7-11.
- Royals 3, Indians 7 - FINAL
CLEVELAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
M Brantley cf 4 1 1 1 1 0 1 .212
L Valbuena lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .163
A Cabrera ss 4 0 2 2 0 0 0 .290
S Choo rf 5 0 1 1 0 1 3 .290
T Hafner dh 4 0 1 1 0 2 0 .270
J Nix 3b 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 .249
C Gimen
Aug 19 11:36 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY ASDRUBAL CABRERA SCORED ANDY MARTE
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, A CABRERA ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 7
KANSAS CITY 3 TOP,9TH
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: S CHOO (.291, 1-FOR-4, RBI)
Guardians 7, Royals 3 Top 9, 0 OutsAug 19 11:25 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY MICHAEL BRANTLEY SCORED JASON DONALD
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, A MARTE ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 6
KANSAS CITY 3 TOP,9TH
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: A CABRERA (.288, 1-FOR-3, SF, RBI)
Guardians 6, Royals 3 Top 9, 0 OutsAug 19 11:25 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY TRAVIS HAFNER SCORED MICHAEL BRANTLEY
SITUATION: 5 RUNS IN, T HAFNER ON FIRST, S CHOO ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 5
KANSAS CITY 3 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: J NIX (.245, 1-FOR-3)
Guardians 5, Royals 3 Top 8, 0 OutsAug 19 10:55 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY SHIN-SOO CHOO SCORED SHELLEY DUNCAN
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, S CHOO ON FIRST, M BRANTLEY ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 4
KANSAS CITY 3 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: T HAFNER (.268, 0-FOR-3)
Guardians 4, Royals 3 Top 8, 0 OutsAug 19 10:50 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY ASDRUBAL CABRERA SCORED JASON DONALD
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, M BRANTLEY ON FIRST, S DUNCAN ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 3
KANSAS CITY 3 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: S CHOO (.289, 0-FOR-3)
Guardians 3, Royals 3 Top 8, 0 OutsAug 19 10:49 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - PITCHING CHANGE
KAN: BLAKE WOOD (1-2, 4.97) IN THE 8TH
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J DONALD ON FIRST, M LAPORTA ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 1, KANSAS CITY 3
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: S DUNCAN (.238, 7 HR, 23 RBI)
Guardians 1, Royals 3 Top 8, 0 OutsAug 19 10:42 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY SHELLEY DUNCAN SCORED MATT LAPORTA
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, S DUNCAN ON FIRST, J DONALD ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 2
KANSAS CITY 3 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: M BRANTLEY (.213, 1-FOR-3)
Guardians 2, Royals 3 Top 8, 0 OutsAug 19 10:40 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY MATT LAPORTA SCORED TREVOR CROWE
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M LAPORTA ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 1
KANSAS CITY 3 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: J DONALD (.254, 0-FOR-2)
Guardians 1, Royals 3 Top 8, 0 OutsAug 19 10:34 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY WILSON BETEMIT SCORED GREGOR BLANCO AND CHRIS
GETZ
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, W BETEMIT ON FIRST, B BUTLER ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 0
KANSAS CITY 3 BOTTOM,5TH
DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: A GORDON (.233, 2-FOR-2)
Guardians 0, Royals 3 Bot 5, 0 OutsAug 19 9:41 PM - AL
AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
ERROR BY MATT LAPORTA ALLOWED BILLY BUTLER TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M MAIER ON FIRST, A GORDON ON SECOND, W
BETEMIT ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 0
KANSAS CITY 1 BOTTOM,4TH
DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: Y BETANCOURT (.269, 0-FOR-1)
Guardians 0, Royals 1 Bot 4, 0 OutsAug 19 9:19 PM
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