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FinalFinal lineupsAL Central

Kansas City Royals 1, Cleveland Guardians 11

Final Score and Game Recap

Final score, pitching lines and standings context.

1:40 PM ET · Progressive FieldGame-day snapshot Aug 30, 4:45 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
1
1–11
FINAL
Cleveland Guardians
85–77 · 1st AL Central · T-Score 52
11
T-Score52
FINAL

Matchup at a glance

PitcherStat calculation
CategoryComparisonWhy
Starting pitcherGuardiansCleveland has the stronger starting-pitcher profile: Messick leads in P-Score, WHIP and K/9.
Offense vs handGuardiansCleveland owns a .706 OPS vs RHP, 24th in MLB; Kansas ranks 19th vs LHP.
BullpenGuardiansCleveland owns a 3.71 bullpen ERA this season, compared with Kansas's 4.55.
Recent formRoyalsKansas has been the better recent team, at 9–1 over the last 10.
Team strengthGuardiansCleveland leads 52–37 in T-Score, driven by stronger offense.

Starting pitchers

KC
Seth Lugo RHP
Seth Lugo
Kansas City Royals
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
4.61
172nd
WHIP
1.38
183rd
K/9
6.94
169th
BB/9
2.81
82nd
P-Score47i
FIP
–
HR/9
0.96
110th
OPS/R
–
IP
150.1
Last 5 starts
ERA
6.41
QUALITY
START %
20%
(1 of 5)
DAYS
REST
5
CLE
Parker Messick LHP
Parker Messick
Cleveland Guardians
2026 season (MLB rank among qualified starters)
ERA
2.50
10th
WHIP
1.01
20th
K/9
9.06
54th
BB/9
2.38
41st
P-Score75i
FIP
–
HR/9
0.81
33rd
OPS/R
–
IP
155.0
Last 5 starts
ERA
2.12
QUALITY
START %
60%
(3 of 5)
DAYS
REST
6
How the starters differ
·Messick allows fewer baserunners, with a 1.01 WHIP compared with 1.38.
·Messick enters with a 2.50 ERA compared with Lugo's 4.61.
·Messick strikes out 2.1 more batters per nine innings.
·Messick has produced a quality start in 60% of outings versus 20%.
Advanced starter metricsERA−, FIP, WAR, career vs opponent
MetricLugoMessickNote
Career vs opponent9.00 ERA, 1 GS–Career history against this opponent.

How the lineups match the starters' pitch mix

Pitch data coverage: partial. Usage and velocity only.

Lugo arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Sinker19%91.4
Four-seam16%91.6
Cutter16%89.8
Curveball15%77.3
Sweeper11%79.2
Slider9%84.3
Changeup9%85.1
Slow Curve2%69.2
Slurve1%77.2
Messick arsenal
PitchUsageVelo
Four-seam42%94.4
Changeup24%85.9
Sinker15%92.8
Curveball8%79.3
Slider7%87.0
Cutter5%90.6

Team OPS vs opposing starter's hand

Royals vs LHP (Parker Messick)
19th
in MLB
0.699OPS
.600.700.800.9001.000
Guardians vs RHP (Seth Lugo)
24th
in MLB
0.706OPS
.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 Parker Messick
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs LHPVs Messick (BvP)
1Carter JensenLC73.79027.664No MLB historyNo history
2Bobby Witt Jr.RSS75.80018.819No MLB historyNo history
3Jac CaglianoneLRF72.83423.7321-for-2Very small sample
4Salvador PerezRDH53.65721.744No MLB historyNo history
5Vinnie PasquantinoL1B66.76117.548No MLB historyNo history
6Nick LoftinR3B51.7108.7220-for-2Very small sample
7John RaveLRF54.7446.672No MLB historyNo history
8Tyler TolbertRSS41.7393.716No MLB historyNo history
9Kyle IsbelLCF34.5916.392No MLB historyNo history
1Carter Jensen C · L.239 / .790 · 27 HRvs hand .664 · No MLB history · No history73H-Score2Bobby Witt Jr. SS · R.281 / .800 · 18 HRvs hand .819 · No MLB history · No history75H-Score3Jac Caglianone RF · L.289 / .834 · 23 HRvs hand .732 · 1-for-2 · Very small sample72H-Score4Salvador Perez DH · R.229 / .657 · 21 HRvs hand .744 · No MLB history · No history53H-Score5Vinnie Pasquantino 1B · L.249 / .761 · 17 HRvs hand .548 · No MLB history · No history66H-Score6Nick Loftin 3B · R.240 / .710 · 8 HRvs hand .722 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample51H-Score7John Rave RF · L.232 / .744 · 6 HRvs hand .672 · No MLB history · No history54H-Score8Tyler Tolbert SS · R.285 / .739 · 3 HRvs hand .716 · No MLB history · No history41H-Score9Kyle Isbel CF · L.224 / .591 · 6 HRvs hand .392 · No MLB history · No history34H-Score
Cleveland GuardiansOfficial lineupvs RHP Seth Lugo
#HitterPosH-ScoreOPSHRvs RHPVs Lugo (BvP)
1Steven KwanLLF53.7313.7872-for-8Very small sample
2Chase DeLauterLRF79.82016.8080-for-2Very small sample
3José RamírezS3B60.68812.6253-for-13Small sample
4Jo AdellRRF63.69923.5931-for-3Very small sample
5Nathaniel LoweL1B64.76117.6980-for-3Very small sample
6Travis BazzanaL2B61.74315.8461-for-2Very small sample
7Angel GenaoS2B41.5722.5600-for-2Very small sample
8Austin HedgesRC49.7026.6542-for-3Very small sample
9Brayan RocchioSSS54.70415.7491-for-6Very small sample
1Steven Kwan LF · L.282 / .731 · 3 HRvs hand .787 · 2-for-8 · Very small sample53H-Score2Chase DeLauter RF · L.287 / .820 · 16 HRvs hand .808 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample79H-Score3José Ramírez 3B · S.235 / .688 · 12 HRvs hand .625 · 3-for-13 · Small sample60H-Score4Jo Adell RF · R.240 / .699 · 23 HRvs hand .593 · 1-for-3 · Very small sample63H-Score5Nathaniel Lowe 1B · L.252 / .761 · 17 HRvs hand .698 · 0-for-3 · Very small sample64H-Score6Travis Bazzana 2B · L.245 / .743 · 15 HRvs hand .846 · 1-for-2 · Very small sample61H-Score7Angel Genao 2B · S.213 / .572 · 2 HRvs hand .560 · 0-for-2 · Very small sample41H-Score8Austin Hedges C · R.247 / .702 · 6 HRvs hand .654 · 2-for-3 · Very small sample49H-Score9Brayan Rocchio SS · S.253 / .704 · 15 HRvs hand .749 · 1-for-6 · 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 14th.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 ERA4.55vs3.71
no league rank
Bullpen WHIP1.38vs1.25
no league rank
Saves38vs46
KCCLE
ResultsKCKC·CLECLE
+22426th
Run differential
+28219th
69–93 Record85–77
9–1 Last 107–3
Last 10 games
Kansas City Royals (9–1)
W
W
W
L
W
W
W
W
W
W
Cleveland Guardians (7–3)
L
L
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
L
2026 head-to-head
Season Series
5—8
13 Games Played

Frequently asked

Who is starting for the Royals?+
Seth Lugo (4.61 ERA, 6–7) is listed as the starter.
Who is starting for the Guardians?+
Parker Messick (2.50 ERA, 10–8) is listed as the starter.
What time does the game start?+
1:40 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?+
Seth Lugo is at 47; Parker Messick is at 75. P-Score is PitcherStat's 0–100 season index for qualified starters.