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FinalFinal lineupsAL Central

Cleveland Guardians 2, Kansas City Royals 3

Final Score and Game Recap

Final score, pitching lines and standings context.

3:10 PM ET · Kauffman StadiumGame-day snapshot Sep 29, 2:00 AM ETFinal lineups lockedCurrent 2026 season stats — updated Oct 29, 5:00 AM ET
T-Score39
Cleveland Guardians
85–77 · 1st AL Central · T-Score 39
2
2–3
FINAL · 9 innings
Kansas City Royals
69–93 · 5th AL Central · T-Score 28
3
T-Score28
FINAL · 9 innings
Pitching recap
PitcherTeamRoleIPHERBBKP
Parker MessickCLE
Starter
3.0611264
Austin PetersonCLE
ReliefLoss
5.0322574
Daniel Lynch IVKC
Starter
5.1720276
Nate PearsonKC
ReliefWin
0.200109
Lucas ErcegKC
ReliefSave
1.0100117
Scoring by inning
123456789RHE
CLECleveland Guardians001001000290
KCKansas City Royals100010010392
Top hitters
Vinnie Pasquantino2-for-4 · 2 HR · 2 RBI
Jo Adell2-for-3 · 1 HR · 1 RBI · 1 BB
Daniel Schneemann2-for-4 · 1 HR · 1 RBI
Salvador Perez1-for-3 · 1 RBI
David Fry2-for-4

Matchup at a glance

PitcherStat calculation
CategoryComparisonWhy
Starting pitcherGuardiansMessick leads Lynch in P-Score (75 vs 39), WHIP and K/9.
Offense vs handRoyalsKansas has produced the stronger offense against left-handed pitching.
LineupGuardiansCleveland's official lineup includes 3 right-handed bats against the opposing starter.
BullpenGuardiansCleveland has allowed fewer runs from the bullpen on the season ERA.
Recent formGuardiansCleveland has won 9 of its last 10 and owns the stronger recent run differential.

Pregame contextStarting pitchers

CLE
Parker Messick LHP
Parker Messick
Cleveland Guardians
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
2.55
10th
WHIP
1.04
19th
K/9
9.38
54th
BB/9
2.36
40th
P-Score75i
FIP
–
HR/9
0.83
33rd
OPS/R
–
IP
183.1
Last 5 starts
ERA
2.86
QUALITY
START %
60%
(3 of 5)
DAYS
REST
5
KC
Daniel Lynch IV LHP
Daniel Lynch IV
Kansas City Royals
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
4.13
108th
WHIP
1.14
53rd
K/9
6.02
214th
BB/9
2.90
69th
P-Score39i
FIP
–
HR/9
1.00
101st
OPS/R
–
IP
80.2
Last 5 starts
ERA
6.94
QUALITY
START %
0%
(0 of 5)
DAYS
REST
5
How the starters differ
·Messick strikes out 3.4 more batters per nine innings.
·Messick enters with a 2.55 ERA compared with Lynch's 4.13.
·The WHIP gap favors Messick, 1.04 to 1.14.
·Messick has produced a quality start in 60% of outings versus 0%.

How the lineups match the starters' pitch mix

Pitch data coverage: partial. Usage and velocity only.

Messick arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Four-seam42%94.4
Changeup24%85.9
Sinker15%92.8
Curveball8%79.3
Slider7%87.0
Cutter5%90.6
IV arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Sinker31%94.0
Changeup25%85.5
Slider19%87.3
Four-seam15%94.5
Knuckle Curve9%81.8

Team OPS vs opposing starter's hand

Guardians vs LHP (Daniel Lynch IV)
27th
in MLB
0.675OPS
.600.700.800.9001.000
Royals vs LHP (Parker Messick)
19th
in MLB
0.699OPS
.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 27, 1:10 PM ET
CLECLE
.697
−17 ptsOPS edge
KCKC
.714

Slight edge: KC

Full lineup comparison

Lineups

Final lineupsOrder from the stored snapshot; treat as unofficial until the card is filed.Full lineup page
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs LHPVs IV (BvP)
1Angel MartínezSLF57.75518.8300-for-1Very small sample
2Travis BazzanaL2B59.74315.526No MLB historyNo history
3Jo AdellRRF61.69923.9710-for-1Very small sample
4Nathaniel LoweL1B63.76117.2961-for-2Very small sample
5David FryRRF44.6778.6430-for-4Very small sample
6Angel GenaoS2B40.5722.5980-for-1Very small sample
7Austin HedgesRC47.7026.7472-for-4Very small sample
8Daniel SchneemannLCF40.6087.7690-for-4Very small sample
9Petey HalpinLCF29.5944.338No MLB historyNo history
1Angel Martínez LF · S.254 / .755 · 18 HRvs hand .830 · 0-for-1 · Very small sample57H-Score2Travis Bazzana 2B · L.245 / .743 · 15 HRvs hand .526 · No MLB history · No history59H-Score3Jo Adell RF · R.240 / .699 · 23 HRvs hand .971 · 0-for-1 · Very small sample61H-Score4Nathaniel Lowe 1B · L.252 / .761 · 17 HRvs hand .296 · 1-for-2 · Very small sample63H-Score5David Fry RF · R.201 / .677 · 8 HRvs hand .643 · 0-for-4 · Very small sample44H-Score6Angel Genao 2B · S.213 / .572 · 2 HRvs hand .598 · 0-for-1 · Very small sample40H-Score7Austin Hedges C · R.247 / .702 · 6 HRvs hand .747 · 2-for-4 · Very small sample47H-Score8Daniel Schneemann CF · L.210 / .608 · 7 HRvs hand .769 · 0-for-4 · Very small sample40H-Score9Petey Halpin CF · L.225 / .594 · 4 HRvs hand .338 · No MLB history · No history29H-Score
Kansas City RoyalsOfficial lineupvs LHP Parker Messick
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs LHPVs Messick (BvP)
1Maikel GarciaR3B47.7153.912No MLB historyNo history
2Bobby Witt Jr.RSS70.80018.8190-for-3Very small sample
3Jac CaglianoneLRF67.83423.7321-for-2Very small sample
4Salvador PerezRDH50.65721.7441-for-3Very small sample
5Vinnie PasquantinoL1B62.76117.5481-for-3Very small sample
6Isaac CollinsSLF46.6416.594No MLB historyNo history
7Tyler TolbertRSS39.7393.7160-for-2Very small sample
8Kyle IsbelLCF32.5916.3920-for-2Very small sample
9Luke MaileRC—.5021.574No MLB historyNo history
1Maikel Garcia 3B · R.268 / .715 · 3 HRvs hand .912 · No MLB history · No history47H-Score2Bobby Witt Jr. SS · R.281 / .800 · 18 HRvs hand .819 · 0-for-3 · Very small sample70H-Score3Jac Caglianone RF · L.289 / .834 · 23 HRvs hand .732 · 1-for-2 · Very small sample67H-Score4Salvador Perez DH · R.229 / .657 · 21 HRvs hand .744 · 1-for-3 · Very small sample50H-Score5Vinnie Pasquantino 1B · L.249 / .761 · 17 HRvs hand .548 · 1-for-3 · Very small sample62H-Score6Isaac Collins LF · S.213 / .641 · 6 HRvs hand .594 · No MLB history · No history46H-Score7Tyler Tolbert SS · R.285 / .739 · 3 HRvs hand .716 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample39H-Score8Kyle Isbel CF · L.224 / .591 · 6 HRvs hand .392 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample32H-Score9Luke Maile C · R.159 / .502 · 1 HRvs hand .574 · No MLB history · No history—H-Score

Team comparison

OffenseCLECLE·KCKC
AVG.239 24th.248 8th
OPS.696 26th.718 17th
Home runs162 27th170 21st
Runs678 24th690 22nd
OBP.316 17th.316 18th
SLG.380 27th.402 14th
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 ERA3.58vs5.12
no league rank
Bullpen WHIP1.26vs1.56
no league rank
Saves46vs38
CLEKC
ResultsCLECLE·KCKC
+30524th
Run differential
+31723rd
85–77 Record69–93
9–1 Last 102–8
Last 10 games
Cleveland Guardians (9–1)
W
W
W
L
W
W
W
W
W
W
Kansas City Royals (2–8)
L
L
L
W
L
L
L
L
L
W
2026 head-to-head
Season Series
8—5
13 Games Played

Frequently asked

Who is starting for the Guardians?+
Parker Messick (2.55 ERA, 12–9) is listed as the starter.
Who is starting for the Royals?+
Daniel Lynch IV (4.13 ERA, 6–6) is listed as the starter.
What time does the game start?+
3:10 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?+
Parker Messick is at 75; Daniel Lynch IV is at 39. P-Score is PitcherStat's 0–100 season index for qualified starters.