Kansas City Royals vs Cleveland Guardians Prediction 9-20-23 MLB Picks

The Cleveland Guardians and the Kansas City Royals meet in the finale of their three-game AL Central series in MLB action from Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday night.

Guardians Trying To Avoid Sweep

The Cleveland Guardians will be looking to avoid the sweep after dropping the first two games of the set after a 7-6 loss in Tuesday’s matchup. The loss dropped the Guardians to 72-80 on the year, sitting 8 games back in the AL Central division race. Jose Ramirez leads the Guardians with 24 home runs along with 78 RBIs while Josh Naylor has a .309 batting average and 93 RBIs. Ramirez also has a .354 OBP and a team-high 35 doubles while Steven Kwan has a team-high 165 hits and 7 triples with 34 doubles as well. Lucas Giolito will start for Cleveland here and is 8-13 with a 4.69 ERA and 189 strikeouts this season.

Royals Pushing For Rare Sweep

The Kansas City Royals will be looking for the sweep here after their win over the Guardians on Tuesday. The win propelled the Royals to 50-102 on the year, still eliminated from playoff contention. Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals with 167 hits, 29 home runs and 90 RBIs along with a .277 batting average while Salvador Perez is second for the Royals in homers with 21 this season. MJ Melendez also has a team-high 28 doubles but has the dubious distinction of leading KC with 162 strikeouts this season. Zack Greinke will start for the Royals here and is 1-15 with a 5.39 ERA and 85 strikeouts this season.

Chris’ Pick

I’m sticking with the Royals here. It just looks to me like the Guardians are running out of gas, and Lucas Giolito’s not the pitcher I want on the mound if I’m Cleveland trying to keep my season alive. Giolito had one good start, but more often than not he’s been getting roughed up since the all-star break. Zack Greinke hasn’t been very good, but I think the Royals’ lineup behind him is going to be good enough here, so give me KC at plus money for the sweep.