Kansas City plays Cleveland after Keller's strong outing

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Cleveland Indians (59-42, second in the AL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (39-64, fourth in the AL Central)

Kansas City, Kansas; Thursday, 8:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Indians: Adam Plutko (3-2, 4.81 ERA) Royals: Mike Montgomery (1-3, 6.83 ERA)

BOTTOM LINE: Kansas City heads into the matchup fresh off a strong showing by Brad Keller. Keller threw seven innings, surrendering zero runs on four hits with three strikeouts against Atlanta.

The Royals are 21-28 against teams from the AL Central. The Kansas City offense has compiled a .248 batting average as a team this season, Whit Merrifield leads the team with a mark of .306.

The Indians are 28-18 against AL Central Division opponents. The Cleveland pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 3.84. Shane Bieber leads the team with a 3.44 earned run average.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jorge Soler leads the Royals with 71 RBIs and is batting .245. Hunter Dozier is 13-for-36 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Kansas City.

Carlos Santana leads the Indians with 21 home runs and has 54 RBIs. Oscar Mercado is 14-for-39 with two doubles, a triple, four home runs and 12 RBIs over the last 10 games for Cleveland.

LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 7-3, .275 batting average, 4.09 ERA, outscored opponents by 11 runs

Indians: 8-2, .289 batting average, 2.58 ERA, outscored opponents by 30 runs

Royals Injuries: Trevor Oaks: 60-day IL (hip), Jesse Hahn: 60-day IL (elbow), Adalberto Mondesi: 10-day IL (shoulder), Salvador Perez: 60-day IL (elbow).

Indians Injuries: Danny Salazar: 60-day IL (shoulder), Jefry Rodriguez: 10-day IL (shoulder), Dan Otero: 10-day IL (shoulder), Corey Kluber: 60-day IL (arm), Carlos Carrasco: 10-day IL (leukemia), Cody Anderson: 60-day IL (elbow), Bradley Zimmer: 60-day IL (shoulder).