Game XCIX Thread: Kansas City vs. Cleveland

Two games shy of the 100-game mark and in the wake of yet another huge deadline deal pulled off by the newly minted wheeler-dealer Dayton Moore, the reigning American League champion Royals enjoy their largest division lead in 35 years. The first-place Royals play the second of three games against divisional foe Cleveland.

In a park that saw four dongs hung last eve, Kansas City sends fly-ball extremist Chris Young to the hill, tempting fate while deciding the lanky Princetonian's fate in the rotation.

Cleveland hands starting duties off to Trevor Bauer today. Bauer does not rely on an Invisi-ball and the fickle fate of the fly-ball-reliant hurler. The Bruin has a more traditional approach to courting success, chasing the strikeout while trying to limit the free passes issued. Not done any favors by the putrid defense supporting him, Bauer sports a 4.29 ERA, 4.24 FIP, 4.00 xFIP, and 3.83 SIERA while ringing up 9.05 K/9 and allowing a 3.67 BB/9--good for a 2.47 K/BB. While most of the peripherals suggest he's pitched a little better than his ERA would imply. Also fly-ball prone, Bauer's HR/FB sits at the slightly high mark of 12.3%, meaning he has allowed 1.33 HR/9 this year--both marks that are higher than his career averages.

The lineups for tonight's game are as follows:

Here’s how we line up tonight vs Indians at 6:10 CT on @FSKansasCity, @MLBTV & @610SportsKC. http://t.co/bnYVywH87Q pic.twitter.com/Nd3YgIF8nz

— Royals (@Royals) July 28, 2015

[This post written from here:]