For a variety of reasons, we don’t typically do series previews here at Royals Authority. One reason is that there haven’t been a whole lot of important series in the past few years that are worth previewing. The upcoming series with the Cleveland Indians could be quite the turning point in the season, so I think it’s valuable to take a peek at what’s to come.

The series with the Indians is a battle for first place in the American League Central. The last time the two teams met, the series ended in a 2-2 tie. This one is a three gamer, so there will inevitably be a winner and a loser. Both teams are also currently on  three game losing streaks so, something has to give.

Who’s hot?

The Indians’ Travis Hafner is hitting .348/.395/.580 on the season so far. He’s gone hitless in only 3 of the 19 games he’s played in this season.

The Royals’ Alex Gordon is currently in the midst of a career long 18 game hitting streak. His off-the-cuff remarks in the off-season about “dominating” seem to be coming true for the moment.

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Game 1

Time: 6:05

TV: Fox Sports Kansas City

Probable Pitchers:

Luke Hochevar

Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO ERA+ WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
2011 27 KCR AL 2 2 .500 5.12 5 5 31.2 27 21 18 6 7 0 20 79 1.074 7.7 1.7 2.0 5.7 2.86
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/26/2011.

Justin Masterson

Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO ERA+ WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
2011 26 CLE AL 4 0 1.000 1.71 4 4 26.1 21 5 5 0 9 0 15 218 1.139 7.2 0.0 3.1 5.1 1.67
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/26/2011.
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Game 2

Time: 6:05

TV: Fox Sports Kansas City

Probable Pitchers

Jeff Francis

Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO ERA+ WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
2011 30 KCR AL 0 2 .000 4.06 5 5 31.0 36 15 14 4 4 0 16 99 1.290 10.5 1.2 1.2 4.6 4.00
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/26/2011.

Josh Tomlin

Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO ERA+ WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
2011 26 CLE AL 3 0 1.000 2.33 4 4 27.0 17 7 7 3 7 0 15 160 0.889 5.7 1.0 2.3 5.0 2.14
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/26/2011.

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Game 3

Time: 6:05

TV: Fox Sports Kansas City

Probable Pitchers

Kyle Davies

Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO ERA+ WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
2011 27 KCR AL 1 2 .333 6.23 5 5 26.0 34 19 18 1 9 0 19 65 1.654 11.8 0.3 3.1 6.6 2.11
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/26/2011.

Fausto Carmona

Year Age Tm Lg W L W-L% ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO ERA+ WHIP H/9 HR/9 BB/9 SO/9 SO/BB
2011 27 CLE AL 1 3 .250 5.76 5 5 29.2 29 20 19 4 11 1 21 65 1.348 8.8 1.2 3.3 6.4 1.91

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/26/2011.
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What are your thoughts on the upcoming series?

Nick Scott hosts the Broken Bat Single Podcast and writes a blog for the Lawrence Journal World. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook or email him at brokenbatsingle at gmail dot com.