The two AL Central rivals Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians will do battle at Kauffman Stadium for the middle-game of a three game set tonight. The Indians lost the opener 5-3 last night further cementing themselves at the bottom of the division while the Royals leapfrogged the Tigers for the division-lead and KC is looking good in tonight's contest as well.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Pitching - The Royals will hand the ball to Danny Duffy (2-0, 3.45 ERA) who's allowed a total of six earned runs over his last four starts after giving up five in his season debut. He's been particularly sharp over his last two outings conceding only one earned run on 13 hits over 12 1/3 innings while striking out seven and giving up three walks. He's 2-1 with 2.61 ERA in seven outings against the Tribe lifetime and posted a 1.63 ERA over 27 2/3 innings against them last year. The Indians will counter with Carlos Carrasco who started the season strong but has been rocked in each of his last two starts surrendering a total of nine runs on 15 hits over 10 1/3 innings of work.

2. Home Cookin' - The Royals have won seven of Duffy's last eight home starts and 13 of their last 16 home games coming in as a favorite. The Indians on the other hand are just 1-7 in their last eight as a road underdog.

3. X-Factor - The Royals bullpen is by far the most effective in the majors posting a combined 1.08 ERA over 83 2/3 innings of work. Cleveland's bullpen ranks in the middle of the pack with a 3.75 ERA but opponents are hitting .259 against it for one of the worst marks in baseball on the year. Quite worrisome for the Indians as Kansas City has the best batting average of any team in the major leagues (.293).

Selection: This is a play on the Kansas City Royals (10*)