(Photo credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images)

It's been an inconsistent start to the season for the Kansas City Royals, but Seth Lugo has not had a problem with his own consistency.

He's certainly been good against the Cleveland Guardians at home.

Among the major league leaders with five quality starts, the 36-year-old right-hander will try to help the Royals take their four-game series from the visiting Guardians on Thursday.

Lugo (1-1, 2.68 ERA) has allowed more than two runs just once in his seven 2026 outings and has completed at least five innings in every appearance. On Saturday at Seattle, he gave up eight hits and two walks but just two runs over six innings of the Royals' 3-2, 10-inning victory.

'I think that was one of my better located-pitch days of the year,' Lugo said. 'I battled.'

Though Lugo allowed a season-high seven runs and a career-high 14 hits over 6 1/3 innings of his most recent home outing against the Los Angeles Angels on April 26, he is 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA in three career starts against the Guardians at Kansas City.

The Royals totaled 11 runs while winning the first two games of this series, but they managed only four hits during a 3-1 loss to Cleveland on Wednesday. Kansas City had won a season-high five in a row and 10 of 13 -- following an eight-game losing streak -- entering the latest contest.

The Guardians, meanwhile, snapped a three-game losing streak with just their fourth victory in the past 11 games.

'All of our games are hard-fought, but it's worth it,' Cleveland catcher Austin Hedges told CLEGuardians.TV. 'We got to find a way to split this series. ... We're gonna try to find a way to get a win (Thursday).'

Rookie Chase DeLauter has been a pleasant surprise for the Guardians, who have consistently hovered around the .500 mark during the first month-plus of the season. With two hits on Wednesday, highlighted by a go-ahead two-run single in the fifth inning, DeLauter is batting .514 (18-for-35) with seven RBIs during a 10-game hitting streak.

Scheduled Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi (1-4, 6.56 ERA) continues to struggle while trying to find a rhythm in 2026. The right-hander allowed five runs and 10 hits, including two homers, over 5 1/3 innings, but picked up the win as the Guardians beat the Athletics 14-6 on Saturday.

It was the third straight start in which Cecconi yielded at least four runs. He gave one hit over eight scoreless innings during his only previous start vs. Kansas City, a 10-2 Cleveland home victory last September.

Cecconi has never faced Kansas City star Bobby Witt Jr., who went 0-for-4 on Wednesday, just the second time he was held hitless in the past 17 games.

Fellow All-Star teammate Maikel Garcia had two hits on Wednesday but appeared to hurt his leg while sliding. Garcia, who got back on track after going hitless in the first two games of the series, likely will be available for the series finale, according to Royals manager Matt Quatraro.

Cleveland star Steven Kwan is 0-for-12 in his past three games and is batting .211 on the season. After getting the night off on Wednesday, he is slated to be back in the lineup to face Lugo, against whom Kwan is 3-for-10 with a home run.

--Field Level Media