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Cleveland Shane Bieber won the 2020 AL Cy Young Award, and he has been about as dominant this season with 68 strikeouts already. He takes the mound on Wednesday in a good pitching matchup in Kansas City against young Royals right-hander Brady Singer. The Tribe are favored on the MLB odds.

How to Bet Indians at Royals MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Wednesday, 8:10 PM ET
Where: Kauffman Stadium
Probable pitchers (away/home): Shane Bieber/Brady Singer
TV: MLB Extra Innings

Why Bet on Cleveland? | MLB Betting Odds

How good has Indians closer Emmanuel Clase been? He worked a scoreless ninth for his sixth save Monday against the Royals. Clase still hasn’t given up an earned run this year, though he did allow unearned runs on three separate occasions. He and teammate James Karinchak both had cases for AL April Reliever of the Month honors, but Boston’s Matt Barnes was the pick.

Karinchak surrendered a two-run homer to Hunter Dozier in the seventh inning Monday, snapping his scoreless streak to begin the season at 11.2 innings over 13 appearances, in which he held opponents to an .054 average (2-for-37). The homer was the second he’s allowed in 44.2 career innings, following a two-run shot by Milwaukee’s Keston Hiura on Sept. 4, 2020, snapping his homerless streak at 19.2 innings over 22 appearances.

It’s ace Shane Bieber (3-2) on the mound. Bieber stuck out 11 batters while allowing three runs over six innings in a 5-3 win over the White Sox last Friday. He’s now struck out at least eight batters in 18 straight games, a new MLB record. The previous mark of 17 in a row was held by Hall of Famer Randy Johnson in 1999-2000.

Bieber allowed a season-high seven hits on the night, as the White Sox got to him in the second and third innings, but he shut them down from there and managed to leave the game in position for the win. He walked just one batter and now holds a 2.76 ERA and 68/14 K/BB ratio in 42 1/3 innings through six starts. Those 68 strikeouts were the most by any pitcher through the end of April in MLB history.

“I think he finds a way to accept the challenge, regardless of what it is, and try to use it to his advantage,” manager Terry Francona said. “I think that’s what good players do.”

Bieber held the Royals to only two runs in 6.1 innings in the lone meeting this season and features a 4-0 record and a 3.59 ERA in eight career starts against the division foes.

Why Bet on Kansas City? | MLB Betting Odds

The Royals are 11-2 this season when scoring first, and both losses have come vs. Cleveland, including Monday and April 7 at Progressive Field.

Whit Merrifield broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run homer off Aaron Civale with two outs in the fourth inning Monday, his first homer since April 5 at Cleveland, snapping a drought of 91 homerless at-bats. It was his 13th career homer (out of 62) that came on the first pitch, and seventh since the start of last season — including three this year — trailing only Pete Alonso and Byron Buxton (8 each) for most first-pitch homers in the Majors since the start of last season.

Excellent Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi could begin a rehab assignment next week. Mondesi has finally started to make progress in his recovery from a strained right oblique. He’ll go through regular pregame workouts with the Royals this week before hopefully being cleared to play in games next week. It sounds like Mondesi could be ready for his season debut around mid-May.

It’s right-hander Brady Singer on the mound. Singer (1-3, 3.09) was removed from last Friday’s start against the Twins after just two innings due to a left heel contusion. Singer was drilled by a line drive off the bat of Josh Donaldson, that wound up popping up into the air and turning into an inning-ending double play.

Singer’s cleat took the brunt of the hit, but the sensation he felt in his leg was enough for manager Mike Matheny to end the short start. Prior to exiting, Singer had allowed one run on two hits and three walks while striking out one. Despite some soreness afterward, all signs point to Singer staying on track in the rotation.

This will be Singer’s third career start vs. Cleveland, and he’s 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA (2 ER in 13.0 IP) and 15 strikeouts to four walks. His last start vs. Cleveland was spectacular, throwing a no-hitter into the eighth inning but it was broken up by Austin Hedges with two out. He finished with the win after 8.0 innings with that one hit allowed and two walks while matching a career-high eight strikeout and also set career-highs in innings and pitches (119 pitches).

Singer is 0-2 in three home starts this season, despite a 3.77 ERA (6 ER in 14.1 IP), including 6.0 scoreless innings on April 18 vs. Toronto. With bases empty, opposing hitters bat .193 (11-for-57) against Singer, however, he is struggling against leadoff hitters, who hit .292 (7-for-24)