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FinalFinal lineupsAL Central

Cleveland Guardians 12, Kansas City Royals 9

Final Score and Game Recap

Final score, pitching lines and standings context.

7:40 PM ET · Kauffman StadiumGame-day snapshot Sep 27, 2:00 AM ETFinal lineups lockedCurrent 2026 season stats — updated Oct 4, 5:00 AM ET
T-Score54
Cleveland Guardians
85–77 · 1st AL Central · T-Score 54
12
12–9
FINAL · 9 innings
Kansas City Royals
69–93 · 5th AL Central · T-Score 32
9
T-Score32
FINAL · 9 innings
Pitching recap
PitcherTeamRoleIPHERBBKP
Gavin WilliamsCLE
Starter
3.1544474
Hunter GaddisCLE
ReliefWin
1.0320013
Noah CameronKC
Starter
5.07643101
Nate PearsonKC
ReliefLoss
0.2044023
Scoring by inning
123456789RHE
CLECleveland Guardians2101300051292
KCKansas City Royals1202000229131
Top hitters
Carter Jensen2-for-4 · 2 HR · 5 RBI
David Fry1-for-4 · 1 HR · 2 RBI
Salvador Perez1-for-4 · 1 HR · 2 RBI · 1 BB
Austin Hedges1-for-3 · 1 HR · 1 RBI · 1 BB
Angel Martínez2-for-5 · 4 RBI · 1 BB

Matchup at a glance

PitcherStat calculation
CategoryComparisonWhy
Starting pitcherGuardiansWilliams holds a modest edge in P-Score and WHIP, while the ERA gap is small.
Offense vs handRoyalsKansas owns a .727 OPS vs RHP, 13th in MLB; Cleveland ranks 27th vs LHP.
LineupRoyalsKansas's official lineup includes 6 left-handed bats against the opposing starter.
BullpenGuardiansCleveland owns a 3.51 bullpen ERA this season, compared with Kansas's 4.82.
Recent formGuardiansCleveland has been the better recent team, at 8–2 over the last 10.

Pregame contextStarting pitchers

CLE
Gavin Williams RHP
Gavin Williams
Cleveland Guardians
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
3.63
77th
WHIP
1.08
37th
K/9
12.13
3rd
BB/9
2.83
101st
P-Score65i
FIP
–
HR/9
1.34
147th
OPS/R
–
IP
181.0
Last 5 starts
ERA
1.76
QUALITY
START %
60%
(3 of 5)
DAYS
REST
5
KC
Noah Cameron LHP
Noah Cameron
Kansas City Royals
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
3.92
110th
WHIP
1.20
82nd
K/9
8.09
118th
BB/9
2.82
95th
P-Score58i
FIP
–
HR/9
0.99
88th
OPS/R
–
IP
172.1
Last 5 starts
ERA
3.41
QUALITY
START %
60%
(3 of 5)
DAYS
REST
6
How the starters differ
·Williams strikes out 4.0 more batters per nine innings.
·Williams allows fewer baserunners, with a 1.08 WHIP compared with 1.20.
·Williams has been more vulnerable to home runs, allowing 0.35 more per nine innings.
·Williams has produced a quality start in 75% of outings versus 60%.

How the lineups match the starters' pitch mix

Pitch data coverage: partial. Usage and velocity only.

Williams arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Sweeper29%86.7
Four-seam27%96.1
Curveball22%82.0
Sinker16%96.1
Cutter6%91.8
Cameron arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Four-seam24%92.5
Cutter21%89.8
Changeup20%81.0
Curveball17%81.7
Slider13%85.2
Sinker5%91.5
Eephus Pitch0%57.4

Team OPS vs opposing starter's hand

Guardians vs LHP (Noah Cameron)
27th
in MLB
0.675OPS
.600.700.800.9001.000
Royals vs RHP (Gavin Williams)
13th
in MLB
0.727OPS
.600.700.800.9001.000

Lineup strength vs today's starter

Weighted by batting-order spot. Season rates are regressed toward league average before they enter the model.

Updated Sep 25, 5:40 PM ET
CLECLE
.720
−11 ptsOPS edge
KCKC
.731

Even matchup

Full lineup comparison

Lineups

Final lineupsOrder from the stored snapshot; treat as unofficial until the card is filed.Full lineup page
Cleveland GuardiansOfficial lineupvs LHP Noah Cameron
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs LHPVs Cameron (BvP)
1Steven KwanLLF55.7313.6091-for-6Very small sample
2José RamírezS3B61.68812.8354-for-5Very small sample
3Chase DeLauterLRF82.82016.844No MLB historyNo history
4Jo AdellRRF66.69923.9710-for-2Very small sample
5Angel MartínezSLF58.75518.7450-for-5Very small sample
6David FryRRF44.6778.6132-for-7Very small sample
7Travis BazzanaL2B64.74315.526No MLB historyNo history
8Austin HedgesRC48.7026.7071-for-4Very small sample
9Brayan RocchioSSS56.70415.6191-for-4Very small sample
1Steven Kwan LF · L.282 / .731 · 3 HRvs hand .609 · 1-for-6 · Very small sample55H-Score2José Ramírez 3B · S.235 / .688 · 12 HRvs hand .835 · 4-for-5 · Very small sample61H-Score3Chase DeLauter RF · L.287 / .820 · 16 HRvs hand .844 · No MLB history · No history82H-Score4Jo Adell RF · R.240 / .699 · 23 HRvs hand .971 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample66H-Score5Angel Martínez LF · S.254 / .755 · 18 HRvs hand .745 · 0-for-5 · Very small sample58H-Score6David Fry RF · R.201 / .677 · 8 HRvs hand .613 · 2-for-7 · Very small sample44H-Score7Travis Bazzana 2B · L.245 / .743 · 15 HRvs hand .526 · No MLB history · No history64H-Score8Austin Hedges C · R.247 / .702 · 6 HRvs hand .707 · 1-for-4 · Very small sample48H-Score9Brayan Rocchio SS · S.253 / .704 · 15 HRvs hand .619 · 1-for-4 · Very small sample56H-Score
Kansas City RoyalsOfficial lineupvs RHP Gavin Williams
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs RHPVs Williams (BvP)
1Carter JensenLC76.79027.8371-for-5Very small sample
2Bobby Witt Jr.RSS78.80018.7832-for-8Very small sample
3Jac CaglianoneLRF75.83423.8821-for-9Very small sample
4Maikel GarciaR3B52.7153.6500-for-8Very small sample
5Vinnie PasquantinoL1B69.76117.8261-for-15Small sample
6Salvador PerezRDH56.65721.6287-for-20Small sample
7Michael MasseyL2B60.73513.7210-for-4Very small sample
8John RaveLRF57.7446.7850-for-1Very small sample
9Kyle IsbelLCF36.5916.6523-for-17Small sample
1Carter Jensen C · L.239 / .790 · 27 HRvs hand .837 · 1-for-5 · Very small sample76H-Score2Bobby Witt Jr. SS · R.281 / .800 · 18 HRvs hand .783 · 2-for-8 · Very small sample78H-Score3Jac Caglianone RF · L.289 / .834 · 23 HRvs hand .882 · 1-for-9 · Very small sample75H-Score4Maikel Garcia 3B · R.268 / .715 · 3 HRvs hand .650 · 0-for-8 · Very small sample52H-Score5Vinnie Pasquantino 1B · L.249 / .761 · 17 HRvs hand .826 · 1-for-15 · Small sample69H-Score6Salvador Perez DH · R.229 / .657 · 21 HRvs hand .628 · 7-for-20 · Small sample56H-Score7Michael Massey 2B · L.274 / .735 · 13 HRvs hand .721 · 0-for-4 · Very small sample60H-Score8John Rave RF · L.232 / .744 · 6 HRvs hand .785 · 0-for-1 · Very small sample57H-Score9Kyle Isbel CF · L.224 / .591 · 6 HRvs hand .652 · 3-for-17 · Small sample36H-Score

Team comparison

OffenseCLECLE·KCKC
AVG.239 23rd.248 8th
OPS.696 26th.718 16th
Home runs162 27th170 21st
Runs678 24th690 22nd
OBP.316 18th.316 17th
SLG.380 27th.402 12th
PitchingCLECLE·KCKC
1stMLB rank30th
ERA3.77vs4.77
CLEKC
WHIP1.26vs1.41
CLEKC
K/99.6vs7.4
CLEKC
HR Allowed175vs210
CLEKC
BullpenCLECLE·KCKC
1stMLB rank30th
Bullpen ERA3.51vs4.82
no league rank
Bullpen WHIP1.26vs1.46
no league rank
Saves46vs38
CLEKC
ResultsCLECLE·KCKC
+27518th
Run differential
+18626th
85–77 Record69–93
8–2 Last 102–8
Last 10 games
Cleveland Guardians (8–2)
W
L
W
W
W
W
W
W
L
W
Kansas City Royals (2–8)
L
W
L
L
L
L
L
W
L
L
2026 head-to-head
Season Series
8—5
13 Games Played

Frequently asked

Who is starting for the Guardians?+
Gavin Williams (3.63 ERA, 14–8) is listed as the starter.
Who is starting for the Royals?+
Noah Cameron (3.92 ERA, 9–8) is listed as the starter.
What time does the game start?+
7:40 PM ET at Kauffman Stadium.
Where is the game being played?+
Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals.
Are the lineups confirmed?+
Not as official league cards. The orders shown are the current projected or last-posted lineups.
How have the Guardians and Royals performed head-to-head?+
Season series: Royals 5–8 this season.
How do the starters compare on P-Score?+
Gavin Williams is at 65; Noah Cameron is at 58. P-Score is PitcherStat's 0–100 season index for qualified starters.