Indians-Royals Pointers

If familiarity breeds contempt, there should be animosity aplenty on Sunday when the Cleveland Indians and the Kansas City Royals meet at Kauffman Stadium. The Indians will pin their hopes on the pitching of righthander Paul Byrd in this game. Byrd has a 2-4 record and a 4.10 ERA this season. Meanwhile, it'll be Brian Bannister who starts for the Royals. Righthander Bannister is 4-6 with a 4.97 ERA so far this season. NewBodog oddsmakers currently have the Royals listed as 120-moneyline favorites versus the Indians, while the game's total has not yet been posted. The Royals scored three runs in the fifth inning and doubled the Indians 4-2 as +155 underdogs on Saturday. The game's six runs fell UNDER the posted over/under (8.5). David DeJesus drove in two runs to lead the Royals. Kyle Davies allowed one run off five hits over five innings in the win. Jamey Carroll and David Dellucci drove in the runs for the Indians, who were favored at -170 in that game. C.C. Sabathia surrendered all four runs and was tagged with the loss. Team records: Cleveland: 25-30 SU Kansas City: 22-34 SU Cleveland most recently: When playing on Sunday are 9-1 Before playing Texas are 3-7 After playing Kansas City are 7-3 After a loss are 3-7 Kansas City most recently: When playing on Sunday are 5-5 Before playing Chi White Sox are 3-7 After playing Cleveland are 5-5 After a win are 5-5 A few trends to consider: Cleveland is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Kansas City The total has gone OVER in 4 of Cleveland's last 5 games The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Cleveland's last 5 games when playing Kansas City The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Cleveland's last 12 games on the road The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Kansas City's last 5 games when playing Cleveland The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Kansas City's last 9 games at home The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Kansas City's last 9 games when playing at home against Cleveland Kansas City is 5-10 SU in its last 15 games when playing Cleveland Next up: Cleveland at Texas, Monday, June 2 Kansas City at Chi White Sox, Tuesday, June 3 All professional handicappers are proud to show off the amount of research that goes into a pick.  If a handicapper gives you no rationale, rest assured you just paid for a coin flip.  Get accurate analysis for every pick at GodsTips.com