Cleveland Guardians vs. Kansas City Royals Preview, Prediction & Odds | July 26, 2025

We have the opening of a three-game American League Central series and the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon between the Cleveland Guardians and the Kansas City Royals. This game was scheduled for Friday, but it was postponed due to weather. Cleveland is second in the AL Central with a 51-51 record and has young right-hander Gavin Williams get the ball. Kansas City is third in the division with a 50-53 record and has veteran righty Michael Wacha start the game.

Betting Odds

Team	Spread	Total Runs	Money Line
	-1.5 (+154)	Over 8.5 (-102)	-102
	+1.5 (-189)	Under 8.5 (-119)	-119

Apex Tale of The Tape

	Team Stats
3.85	Runs/G	3.52
.224	BA	.245
.298	OBP	.299
.372	SLG	.380
.670	OPS	.679
108	HR	85
82	SB	76
3.92	ERA	3.50
1.32	WHIP	1.2
8.49	K/9	8.20
.981	Fielding Percentage	.988
2	Saves	29

Projected Starting Pitchers H2H

Gavin Williams	Player Stats	Michael Wacha
6-4	W/L	4-9
3.54	ERA	3.62
104.1	IP	112.0
1.38	WHIP	1.24
106	K	85
58	BB	34

Key Stats

Cleveland Guardians

The Cleveland Guardians have been brutal offensively as they are 28th in the bigs with a .670 team OPS while averaging 3.85 runs per game thus far. Cleveland has been hitting for a mediocre amount of power as their lineup is 20th in baseball with 108 total homers hit. Left fielder Steven Kwan has been hitting at a good level as he has recorded a .287/.352/.410 slashline with eight homers, 35 RBI, 47 runs scored, and 11 steals while being caught twice.

Young right-hander Gavin Williams is going to be taking the mound for the Cleveland Guardians for Saturday’s game and is holding his own thus far as he is 6-4 with a 3.54 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP in 104.1 innings of work. He has been limiting hits as he is pitching to a .223 opposing batting average after having a .246 batting average against last season. Williams faced the Royals once this season and did not factor into the decision as he pitched five innings and gave up two runs on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals have been struggling at the plate as the team is 26th in MLB with a .245/.299/.380 team slashline while scoring 3.52 runs per game this season. They have been aggressive at the plate as the Guardians are last by far with 241 total walks drawn. Second baseman Jonathan India needs to improve offensively as he has a .663 OPS with four home runs, 27 RBI, 43 runs scored, and zero stolen bases on four tries.

The Kansas City Royals are sending veteran righty Michael Wacha to the hill and pitched at a respectable level thus far as in his first 20 starts, he is 4-9 with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP in 112.0 innings of work. His command has been struggling a bit as he has 34 walks compared to 45 in 2024. Wacha faced the Guardians once this season in a losing effort as he allowed one run on four hits with four walks and a pair of strikeouts in four innings of work.

Cleveland Guardians vs. Kansas City Royals Betting Trends

	Betting Stats
7-3	W/L 10	5-5
54-48	ATS	52-51
45-52-5	O/U	41-61-1

Prediction

With this game being the first game of a doubleheader, the managers may prioritize saving some bullpen pitchers for Game 2 rather than burn them in Game 1. During July, these teams are scoring well as Cleveland is averaging 4.5 runs in their 20 games this month while Kansas City is scoring 4.67 runs during their 18 July games. The over is 5-4-1 in their last 10 games against each other, so go with the over in this game as the best bet to make for this game. 

Final Pick

Over 8.5 Runs (-102)

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