The set-up: The Royals beat the Yankees 8-5 on Monday but New York bested KC 5-4 in 10 innings on Tuesday night, a game which was interrupted by a 59-minute rain delay after the fifth inning. The rubber game of the series is tonight, as the Royals look to capture an eighth straight series. KC won 17 of 22 games while taking seven consecutive series and after splitting two games with the Yankees, the 69-63 Royals are 69-63, three games out of the AL's final wild card spot (that's a half-game closer than the 68-63 Yankees are).

The pitching matchup: Luis Cessa (4-0, 4.11 ERA) goes for the Yankees and Ian Kennedy (9-9, 3.57 ERA) goes for the Royals.Cessa won his second consecutive start on Friday in a 14-4 rout of Baltimore. He has worked six innings in each of his last two trips to the mound, after making eight straight relief appearances in his first MLB season (two of his four wins have come in relief). Kennedy was once a highly-prized product of New York's farm system (along with Phil Hughes), as he was selected as a first-round pick in the 2006 draft. Kennedy's best season was 2011, when he was 21-4 for Arizona. However, he's gone 53-59 since, including 9-9 in 2016.

The pick: However, as noted above, KC is 18-6 its last 22 games and Kennedy is 3-0 with a 1.11 ERA over his last four starts (Royals are 4-0) and that makes KC a 10* play tonight.