Cleveland Indians (67-71) At Kansas City Royals (60-79), 8:10 P.m.
(Sports Network) - The Cleveland Indians try to continue their recent mastery of the Kansas City Royals this evening when the AL Central rivals kick off a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium. Cleveland has won its last three against the Royals and is 7-4 on the season against their division's cellar dwellers, including wins in four of the six matchups in Kansas City. The Indians enter this matchup on the heels of taking two of three from the Central-leading Chicago White Sox, but were denied a sweep on Wednesday with a 4-2 setback in the rubber match at Progressive Field. Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run double while Jeremy Sowers (2-8) was handed the loss for giving up four runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings of work for the Indians, who have lost four of their last six. Cleveland will hand the ball to 26-year-old righty Anthony Reyes, who is 2-1 with a 2.01 ERA since being acquired from St. Louis. Reyes did not get a decision on Saturday against Seattle, which managed just a run and seven hits in seven innings of his team's 4-3 loss that day. Reyes' last win came against Kansas City back on August 19 when he surrendered two runs and six hits in five innings. He has won both of his starts against the Royals, pitching to a 1.69 ERA in those outings. Kansas City will counter with 32-year-old righty Brandon Duckworth, who will try to win his third game in as many starts. Duckworth improved to 2-0 since being recalled from Triple-A on Saturday in Detroit, as the Tigers reached him for three runs and seven hits in six innings. Duckworth has faced the Tribe four times out of the bullpen, going 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA. This will be his first start against them. The Royals enter tonight's tilt after sweeping a three-game series from the Oakland Athletics. Kansas City completed the trifecta with a doubleheader sweep on Thursday, winning the first game 5-4 in 10 innings before winning the nightcap 9-6. Jose Guillen went 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored in the second game, while Mike Aviles went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored for the Royals, who have won four of their last five games. Kyle Davies (6-6) gave up just one run on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts in five innings of work. In the earlier game, Joey Gathright's RBI single in the 10th inning lifted Kansas City to a 5-4 victory. The game was a makeup of Wednesday's game, which was rained out due to the remnants of Hurricane Gustav passing through the area.
Copyright 2008 Courtesy of The Sports Network.










