Royals aim to stop road slide, play the Guardians

Kansas City Royals (25-63, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Cleveland Guardians (43-44, second in the AL Central)

Cleveland; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Daniel Lynch (2-3, 4.14 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 28 strikeouts); Guardians: Aaron Civale (2-2, 2.96 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 35 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals will look to break a five-game road slide when they take on the Cleveland Guardians.

Cleveland has a 43-44 record overall and a 22-21 record at home. The Guardians have a 24-5 record in games when they scored five or more runs.

Kansas City is 25-63 overall and 12-32 on the road. The Royals have a 16-9 record in games when they scored at least five runs.

Friday's game is the fifth time these teams match up this season. The Guardians hold a 3-1 advantage in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Naylor has a .301 batting average to lead the Guardians, and has 18 doubles and 11 home runs. Amed Rosario is 13-for-45 with a home run and 12 RBI over the past 10 games.

Salvador Perez leads Kansas City with 15 home runs while slugging .440. Maikel Garcia is 13-for-38 with a home run and three RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 6-4, .262 batting average, 3.75 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs

Royals: 3-7, .211 batting average, 5.79 ERA, outscored by 29 runs

INJURIES: Guardians: Triston McKenzie: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cal Quantrill: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Peyton Battenfield: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Royals: Zack Greinke: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Matt Beaty: 7-Day IL (concussion), Vinnie Pasquantino: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Josh Staumont: 15-Day IL (neck), Brad Keller: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Ryan Yarbrough: 60-Day IL (head), Kris Bubic: 60-Day IL (flexor), Jake Brentz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Angel Zerpa: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.