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Indians try to find success on the road against Royals

May 16, 2011 - 2:44 PM (Sports Network) - The Cleveland Indians have been the best home team in the league this season. Tonight, they get a chance to improve upon their mediocre road record when they start a brief two-game series against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

Cleveland owns the best record in the majors at 24-13, thanks in large part to a 15-4 mark at Progressive Field. However, the road has been a different story for the upstart Tribe, as they are just 9-9 away from home.

Tonight, though, the Indians just hope to play, something they haven't done since Travis Hafner's thrilling walk-off home run over the Seattle Mariners on Friday. Rain in the Midwest over the weekend forced postponements not only on Saturday, but on Sunday as well.

"We wanted to use all that energy from that walk-off homer yesterday and today," Cleveland manager Manny Acta said on Sunday. "It's really too bad we couldn't use all that energy. It seems like a long time ago that Travis hit that home run."

So, instead of going on Sunday, right-hander Josh Tomlin was pushed back to today, as he tries for his first win in three starts. Tomlin did not get a decision against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, yielding three runs and six hits in six innings of a 5-4 win.

Tomlin, who is 4-1 with a 2.70 ERA on the year, beat the Royals back on April 27 and is 3-1 lifetime against them with a 4.18 ERA.

Kansas City was also affected by this weekend's rain over the center of the country, as it had its contest with the Detroit Tigers postponed on Sunday. The rest may have been just what the doctor ordered though, for the Royals, who had dropped the first two games of the series with the red-hot Tigers.

The Royals have also had success in their building, going 15-8 in front of their fans. However, they split a four-game set there earlier in the year with the Indians, who have beaten KC in five of seven meetings this season and eight of 10 dating back to last year.

That trend could continue tonight, as Kansas City sends the struggling Kyle Davies to the hill. Davies lost his fourth straight start on Tuesday to the New York Yankees, as he allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings, dropping him to 1-5 on the year to go along with a 7.08 ERA.

Davies was hammered by the Indians for eight runs in just 3 1/3 innings back on April 28. He is only 3-6 in 11 starts against them and has pitched to a 6.46 ERA in those outings.