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FinalFinal lineupsAL Central

Kansas City Royals 8, Cleveland Guardians 3

Final Score and Game Recap

Final score, pitching lines and standings context.

4:10 PM ET · Progressive FieldGame-day snapshot Aug 29, 6:50 PM ETFinal lineups lockedCurrent 2026 season stats — updated Oct 12, 5:00 AM ET
T-Score37
Kansas City Royals
69–93 · 5th AL Central · T-Score 37
8
8–3
FINAL
Cleveland Guardians
85–77 · 1st AL Central · T-Score 52
3
T-Score52
FINAL

Matchup at a glance

PitcherStat calculation
CategoryComparisonWhy
Starting pitcherGuardiansGriffin owns the stronger overall starter profile, with the higher P-Score and better strikeout and baserunner rates.
Offense vs handRoyalsKansas has produced the stronger offense against left-handed pitching.
LineupRoyalsKansas's official lineup includes 6 right-handed bats against the opposing starter.
BullpenGuardiansCleveland has allowed fewer runs from the bullpen on the season ERA.
Starter formRoyalsLynch has a 3.24 ERA over his last five starts, while Griffin is at 5.33.

Starting pitchers

KC
Daniel Lynch IV LHP
Daniel Lynch IV
Kansas City Royals
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
2.93
108th
WHIP
1.03
53rd
K/9
6.63
214th
BB/9
2.62
69th
P-Score39i
FIP
–
HR/9
0.62
101st
OPS/R
–
IP
58.1
Last 5 starts
ERA
3.24
QUALITY
START %
0%
(0 of 5)
DAYS
REST
6
CLE
Foster Griffin LHP
Foster Griffin
Cleveland Guardians
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
3.19
60th
WHIP
1.13
74th
K/9
8.14
109th
BB/9
2.29
38th
P-Score60i
FIP
–
HR/9
1.39
111th
OPS/R
–
IP
149.1
Last 5 starts
ERA
5.33
QUALITY
START %
20%
(1 of 5)
DAYS
REST
6
How the starters differ
·Lynch allows the lower home-run rate: 0.62 vs 1.39 per nine.
·Griffin owns a 8.1 K/9 compared with Lynch's 6.6.
·The WHIP gap favors Lynch, 1.03 to 1.13.
·Griffin averages 2.6 more innings per start.
Advanced starter metricsERA−, FIP, WAR, career vs opponent
MetricIVGriffinNote
Career vs opponent0.00 ERA, 3 GS1.50 ERA, 1 GSCareer history against this opponent.

How the lineups match the starters' pitch mix

Pitch data coverage: partial. Usage and velocity only.

IV arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Sinker31%94.0
Changeup25%85.5
Slider19%87.3
Four-seam15%94.5
Knuckle Curve9%81.8
Griffin arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Cutter33%88.5
Four-seam16%91.5
Sweeper15%80.3
Changeup12%82.5
Sinker10%91.4
Curveball9%77.8
Splitter6%81.4

Team OPS vs opposing starter's hand

Royals vs LHP (Foster Griffin)
19th
in MLB
0.699OPS
.600.700.800.9001.000
Guardians vs LHP (Daniel Lynch IV)
27th
in MLB
0.675OPS
.600.700.800.9001.000

Lineups

Final lineupsOrder from the stored snapshot; treat as unofficial until the card is filed.Full lineup page
Kansas City RoyalsOfficial lineupvs LHP Foster Griffin
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs LHPVs Griffin (BvP)
1Carter JensenLC76.79027.664No MLB historyNo history
2Bobby Witt Jr.RSS78.80018.8192-for-3Very small sample
3Jac CaglianoneLRF75.83423.7320-for-2Very small sample
4Salvador PerezRDH56.65721.7441-for-3Very small sample
5Nick LoftinR3B53.7108.7221-for-3Very small sample
6Tyler TolbertRSS43.7393.7161-for-3Very small sample
7Isaac CollinsSLF51.6416.5940-for-1Very small sample
8Matthew LugoRLF—.3430.000No MLB historyNo history
9Luke MaileRC—.5021.574No MLB historyNo history
1Carter Jensen C · L.239 / .790 · 27 HRvs hand .664 · No MLB history · No history76H-Score2Bobby Witt Jr. SS · R.281 / .800 · 18 HRvs hand .819 · 2-for-3 · Very small sample78H-Score3Jac Caglianone RF · L.289 / .834 · 23 HRvs hand .732 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample75H-Score4Salvador Perez DH · R.229 / .657 · 21 HRvs hand .744 · 1-for-3 · Very small sample56H-Score5Nick Loftin 3B · R.240 / .710 · 8 HRvs hand .722 · 1-for-3 · Very small sample53H-Score6Tyler Tolbert SS · R.285 / .739 · 3 HRvs hand .716 · 1-for-3 · Very small sample43H-Score7Isaac Collins LF · S.213 / .641 · 6 HRvs hand .594 · 0-for-1 · Very small sample51H-Score8Matthew Lugo LF · R.143 / .343 · 0 HRvs hand .000 · No MLB history · No history—H-Score9Luke Maile C · R.159 / .502 · 1 HRvs hand .574 · No MLB history · No history—H-Score
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs LHPVs IV (BvP)
1Steven KwanLLF53.7313.6091-for-11Small sample
2Chase DeLauterLRF79.82016.8440-for-1Very small sample
3José RamírezS3B60.68812.8356-for-13Small sample
4Jo AdellRRF63.69923.971No MLB historyNo history
5Angel MartínezSLF60.75518.8300-for-1Very small sample
6David FryRRF42.6778.6130-for-4Very small sample
7Angel GenaoS2B41.5722.598No MLB historyNo history
8Austin HedgesRC49.7026.7472-for-4Very small sample
9Brayan RocchioSSS54.70415.6190-for-2Very small sample
1Steven Kwan LF · L.282 / .731 · 3 HRvs hand .609 · 1-for-11 · Small sample53H-Score2Chase DeLauter RF · L.287 / .820 · 16 HRvs hand .844 · 0-for-1 · Very small sample79H-Score3José Ramírez 3B · S.235 / .688 · 12 HRvs hand .835 · 6-for-13 · Small sample60H-Score4Jo Adell RF · R.240 / .699 · 23 HRvs hand .971 · No MLB history · No history63H-Score5Angel Martínez LF · S.254 / .755 · 18 HRvs hand .830 · 0-for-1 · Very small sample60H-Score6David Fry RF · R.201 / .677 · 8 HRvs hand .613 · 0-for-4 · Very small sample42H-Score7Angel Genao 2B · S.213 / .572 · 2 HRvs hand .598 · No MLB history · No history41H-Score8Austin Hedges C · R.247 / .702 · 6 HRvs hand .747 · 2-for-4 · Very small sample49H-Score9Brayan Rocchio SS · S.253 / .704 · 15 HRvs hand .619 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample54H-Score

Team comparison

OffenseKCKC·CLECLE
AVG.248 8th.239 22nd
OPS.718 16th.696 26th
Home runs170 21st162 27th
Runs690 22nd678 24th
OBP.316 18th.316 17th
SLG.402 15th.380 27th
PitchingKCKC·CLECLE
1stMLB rank30th
ERA4.77vs3.77
KCCLE
WHIP1.41vs1.26
KCCLE
K/97.4vs9.6
KCCLE
HR Allowed210vs175
KCCLE
BullpenKCKC·CLECLE
1stMLB rank30th
Bullpen ERA4.65vs3.59
no league rank
Bullpen WHIP1.40vs1.23
no league rank
Saves38vs46
KCCLE
ResultsKCKC·CLECLE
+21728th
Run differential
+28519th
69–93 Record85–77
9–1 Last 108–2
Last 10 games
Kansas City Royals (9–1)
W
W
L
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
Cleveland Guardians (8–2)
L
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
L
W
2026 head-to-head
Season Series
5—8
13 Games Played

Frequently asked

Who is starting for the Royals?+
Daniel Lynch IV (2.93 ERA, 4–4) is listed as the starter.
Who is starting for the Guardians?+
Foster Griffin (3.19 ERA, 15–4) is listed as the starter.
What time does the game start?+
4:10 PM ET at Progressive Field.
Where is the game being played?+
Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Guardians.
Are the lineups confirmed?+
Not as official league cards. The orders shown are the current projected or last-posted lineups.
How have the Royals and Guardians performed head-to-head?+
Season series: Guardians 8–5 this season.
How do the starters compare on P-Score?+
Daniel Lynch IV is at 39; Foster Griffin is at 60. P-Score is PitcherStat's 0–100 season index for qualified starters.