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The New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals will conclude a three-game series at Yankee Stadium on Thursday afternoon. It’s time to continue our MLB odds series and make a Royals-Yankees prediction and pick.
These teams have split the first two games of this series and will face off in an afternoon rubber match. Kansas City opened the series with a win against Gerrit Cole and the Yankees bounced back with a win of their own on Wednesday night. New York will look to win another series as they continue to chase down the Rays and Red Sox in the AL East.
Here’s how sportsbooks have set the opening Royals-Yankees odds to make our prediction.
MLB Odds: Royals-Yankees Odds
Kansas City Royals +1.5 (-112)
New York Yankees -1.5 (-108)
Over 9.5 Runs (-103)
Under 9.5 Runs (-117)
Why The Royals Could Cover The Spread
The Kansas City Royals are 33-39 and sitting nine games back of first place in the AL Central. They may be in rebuilding mode, but this club has shown a ton of fight, which we saw in the first game of this series. The Royals were up in the second game as well and should be in line to put up another good fight in the Bronx.
Kansas City's offensive numbers have been mediocre up to this point in the season. They are 18th in runs scored, 12th in hits per game, and strikeout at the second-lowest rate in baseball. They are led by catcher Salvador Perez, who has launched 18 longs balls and knocked in 47 RBI on the season. The Royals have put up 11 runs through the first two games against one of the best pitching staff's in the league.
Kansas City will turn to right-hander Brad Keller for the rubber match. Keller has really struggled this season with a 6-7 record and 6.34 ERA through 15 starts. The young right-hander has been especially bad over his past three starts with 16 runs allowed over 15.1 innings of work. The Royals will need a big bounce-back start from the 25-year-old starter to overcome the Yankees.
Why The Yankees Could Cover The Spread
The New York Yankees are slowly starting to claw their way back in the divisional race as they are now 5.5 games back of the division-leading Red Sox. The Yankees certainly don't lack the necessary talent to be a playoff team, but there has been a level of fight and desire that this team has clearly lacked. New York is now 6-2 over their last eight games and may be regaining that fight and desire before our very eyes.
The Yankees offense has been slowing starting to return to form as they're now 21st in the league in runs per game. The short porch at Yankee Stadium hasn't helped this club much either. New York has heavily relied on their pitching staff to keep them afloat through the first two and a half months of the season. The Yankees allow four runs per game, which is good for 10th in the Majors. They allow just 3.82 runs per game at Yankee Stadium this season.
New York will turn to right-hander Jameson Taillon for the rubber match. Taillon has had a very underwhelming season with a 1-4 record and 5.59 ERA through 13 starts. The Yankee starter put together a strong start in his last outing with 4.2 innings of two-run ball against the A's. Taillon will make his second career start against Kansas City, having tossed seven scoreless frames with 11 strikeout's back in 2018.
Final Royals-Yankees Prediction & Pick
I like the over in a game that features two offenses that have been hitting well and pitching horribly. The pitching matchup in the rubber match is very favorable for these lineups as well. Both games have seen 11 runs cross the plate and I expect that sort of production again. New York's offense is slowing starting to regain some consistency and when they get going, watch out.
FINAL Royals-Yankees Prediction: Over 9.5 Runs (-103)
