Cleveland Guardians at Kansas City Royals, MLB forecast
Win probability
Starts from the pregame forecast, then moves with the score and the time left after each inning. Above the line favors KC.
Game center
From the ESPN box score.
Top performers
Guardians- Steven KwanBatting1-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI
- Tanner BibeePitching5.0 IP, 4 ER, 8 K
Royals- Freddy FerminBatting2-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI
- Kris BubicPitching2.2 IP, 3 ER, 1 K
Scoring summary
- 5Witt Jr. homered to left center (449 feet), Isbel scored.6–4
- 4Kwan homered to right center (431 feet), Rocchio scored.6–2
- 3Schneemann hit sacrifice fly to right, Ramírez scored, Arias to third.4–2
- 2Fermin homered to left (379 feet), Garcia scored.3–2
- 1Rodríguez doubled to right, Martínez scored and Ramírez scored, Santana to third.3–0
- 1Santana walked, Kwan scored, Ramírez to second, Martínez to third.1–0
The pick
Reconstructed from what was known before the game: the ratings at that point and the closing line.
Royals 55%
Forecast Elo ratings alone
How often that comes true: MLB favorites the forecast gave 55–60% have won 55.5% of 2,596 graded games.
- Market
- KC 55%
- ML CLE +115 / KC -135
- Pre-line forecast
- KC 53%
- Elo + market-implied
- Elo ratings
- KC 54%
- Ratings vs. market
- −1.7 pts
- KC: Elo 53.5%, market 55.3%
- Fair odds
- KC -124
- CLE +124 · the forecast as odds, no margin
- Pregame projection
- CLE 3.5 – 4.0 KC
- Margin from the forecast, posted total 7.5
How the number is built
Elo inputs in rating points (higher favors that team; 25–28 Elo is about a point of spread in football and basketball), then how the pieces combine.
| Factor | CLE | KC | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team rating | 1496 | 1498 | Elo entering the game; 1500 is league average |
| Home field | — | +18 | Worth 18 Elo in MLB |
| Starting pitchers | +3 | +7 | CLE: Tanner Bibee: team allows 0.13 fewer runs than with its usual starter (≈10 weighted starts) · KC: Kris Bubic: team allows 0.35 fewer runs than with its usual starter (≈9 weighted starts) |
| Elo ratings | KC +25 Elo | KC 53.5% | |
| Market-implied ratings | KC 52.7% | Team strength as past closing lines priced it, same game context | |
| Pre-line forecast | KC 52.8% | 15% Elo, 85% market-implied (log-odds blend) | |
| Forecast | KC 55.3% | Follows the market (vig removed): in testing, adding the ratings made it less accurate | |
Tale of the tape
This season coming into the game, regular season, each number with its league rank (the longer the bar, the higher). Home and road: the host's record at home against the visitor's on the road. Opponent Elo: how strong the teams each has played are, 1st the toughest.
| CLE | Stat | KC |
|---|---|---|
| 26th of 303.8 | Runs scored | 3.529th of 30 |
| 14th of 304.2 | Runs allowed | 3.72nd of 30 |
| 22nd of 30−0.4 | Margin | −0.221st of 30 |
| 4th of 307–3 | Last 10 | 5–512th of 30 |
| 10th of 3026–27 | Road vs home | 25–2623rd of 30 |
| 20th of 301499 | Opponent Elo | 149917th of 30 |
| 21st of 301496 | Elo rating | 149819th of 30 |
Rating history
Each team's Elo over the last two seasons. Hover or drag to compare on any date.
Recent form
Last five results, and whether the forecast hit.
Against the line
How each team has done against the closing spread and total, coming into this game.
| This season |  CLE |  KC |
|---|---|---|
| Run line | 50–53 | 51–53 |
| Last 10 | 5–5 | 5–5 |
| Favorite | 16–28 | 13–31 |
| Underdog | 34–25 | 38–22 |
| Overs–unders | 47–56 | 42–62 |
| Overs–unders, last 10 | 6–4 | 5–5 |
Against each game's closing line. Books set every line knowing these records: across 3,901 past games, the team with the better record against the spread so far that season covered 51.2%, short of the 52.4% a standard −110 bet needs, and over/under streaks held 48.0% of the time. They describe the past.
Head to head
CLE 16–17 KC in their last 33 meetings; the forecast called 20 of 33.