Cleveland closes out a weekend set against a Kansas City club that's mathematically fringe but stubbornly frisky, with a division race and a Royals pitching staff that keeps losing arms both hanging over Sunday's finale.
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SUN AUG 30, 1:40 PM
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Royals
Guardians
Parker Messick gets the ball for Cleveland, and he's been the best story in that rotation all season — 10-8 with a 2.50 ERA, and his last time out on August 24 was vintage: 6 innings, 1 earned run, 4 strikeouts in a win over the Angels. Kansas City hasn't announced a starter for Sunday, so no name gets attached to it here, but whoever it is walks into a lineup that's been finding barrels lately.
The bigger story for the Royals is who isn't walking into the bullpen at all. Nick Mears was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome and is done for the year, joining fellow closer Carlos Estevez on the 60-day injured list — meaning Kansas City has lost its top two ninth-inning options within about a week of each other. Cleveland's own hold list is shorter but real: Rhys Hoskins is out on the 10-day IL with back trouble, and Chase DeLauter is still fighting hamstring tightness that first popped up in mid-August.
None of that is stopping either lineup from hitting right now. Bobby Witt Jr. has been raking since coming back from a lower-back issue in early August, and Vinnie Pasquantino has been arguably hotter since his own return later that month. Cleveland, for its part, has the shorter path to the postseason and has been playing like it knows it.
Kansas City Royals
Cleveland Guardians
There's a wrinkle worth flagging: these two open a series in Cleveland on Friday and Saturday before Sunday's game, and both of those results are still unplayed as of this writing. Whatever bullpen usage, momentum or lineup tweaks show up by Sunday will be shaped by two games nobody has seen yet, so treat any series framing with that grain of salt.
Kansas City Royals
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Fully healthy — no injuries to report
Cleveland Guardians
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Fully healthy — no injuries to report
Strip away the standings and this is a matchup of a team playing loose with nothing to lose against a team trying to keep pace atop its division. Kansas City's rotation and bullpen have been stripped down to the studs, but Witt Jr. and Pasquantino give them a puncher's chance in any single game — Sunday included.
