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- Chase DeLauterBatting2-4, 2 RBI
- Joey CantilloPitching5.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 K
Royals- Maikel GarciaBatting2-3
- Cole RagansPitching3.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 K
Scoring summary
- 8Fry grounded out to third, Ramírez scored.3–1
- 5DeLauter singled to left, Hedges scored and Halpin scored.2–1
- 3Perez hit sacrifice fly to right, Witt Jr. scored.0–1
The pick
Reconstructed from what was known before the game: the ratings at that point and the closing line.
Royals 56%
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 56%
- ML CLE +117 / KC -141
- Pre-line forecast
- KC 55%
- Elo + market-implied
- Elo ratings
- KC 51%
- Ratings vs. market
- −5.2 pts
- KC: Elo 50.7%, market 55.9%
- Fair odds
- KC -127
- CLE +127 · 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 | 1507 | 1501 | Elo entering the game; 1500 is league average |
| Home field | — | +18 | Worth 18 Elo in MLB |
| Starting pitchers | 0 | −6 | CLE: Joey Cantillo: team allows 0.02 more runs than with its usual starter (≈9 weighted starts) · KC: Cole Ragans: team allows 0.32 more runs than with its usual starter (≈10 weighted starts) |
| Elo ratings | KC +5 Elo | KC 50.7% | |
| Market-implied ratings | KC 55.5% | Team strength as past closing lines priced it, same game context | |
| Pre-line forecast | KC 54.8% | 15% Elo, 85% market-implied (log-odds blend) | |
| Forecast | KC 55.9% | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 23rd of 304.1 | Runs scored | 4.220th of 30 |
| 14th of 304.3 | Runs allowed | 4.517th of 30 |
| 15th of 30−0.2 | Margin | −0.317th of 30 |
| 25th of 303–7 | Last 10 | 8–22nd of 30 |
| 16th of 309–12 | Road vs home | 11–78th of 30 |
| 5th of 301511 | Opponent Elo | 150018th of 30 |
| 13th of 301507 | Elo rating | 150116th 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 | 18–19 | 20–16 |
| Last 10 | 3–7 | 8–2 |
| Favorite | 8–9 | 10–9 |
| Underdog | 10–10 | 10–7 |
| Overs–unders | 18–19 | 15–20–1 |
| Overs–unders, last 10 | 4–6 | 4–5–1 |
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 22–22 KC in their last 44 meetings; the forecast called 26 of 44.