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The Kansas City Royals take on the Cleveland Guardians for the second game of a three game series Tuesday night. Below we will continue our MLB odds series as we hand out a Royals-Guardians prediction and pick while letting you know how to watch, as well.
The Royals were able to take game one of this series by the final score of 5-3. Kansas City went up 2-0 early, and never lost that lead. Salvador Perez and Maikal Garcia each hit a home run and had three of the five RBIs. Edward Olivares had the other two RBI for the Royals. Ryan Yarbrough pitched a gem as he went six innings, allowed just one run on six hits and struck out one. Scott Barlow recorded his 12th save of the season as he pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
Cleveland out-hit the Royals 10-7 on the night, but they were not able to make their hits count. Amed Rosario, Will Brennan, and Myles Straw combined for seven of the 10 hits on the night for Cleveland. Logan Allen went seven innings in the game, but suffered the loss. He allowed four earned runs (five total) on seven hits, and struck out five. Daniel Norris threw two scoreless innings in just his second appearance of the season.
Zack Greinke will get the ball as he is just 53 strikeouts away from 3,000. Aaron Civale will start for the Guardians.
Here are the Royals-Guardians MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Royals-Guardians Odds
Kansas City Royals: +1.5 (-118)
Cleveland Guardians: -1.5 (-102)
Over: 8.5 (-120)
Under: 8.5 (-102)
How To Watch Royals vs. Guardians
TV: Bally Sports Kansas City, Bally Sports Great Lakes
Stream: MLB TV subscription
Time: 7:10 PM ET/4:10 PM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Royals Could Cover The Spread
Greinke has a start against the Guardians already. In that start, he allowed just two run in six innings of work. However, he did allow 11 hits. The Guardians do not hit for power, so allowing hits against them will not kill you. Allowing too many hits will, though. Greinke will need to cut down on the hits, but the fact that he battled through and allowed just two runs is a good sign. If Greinke can cut down on the hits, the Royals will cover this spread.
Why The Guardians Could Cover The Spread
As mentioned, the Guardians stacked up 11 hits against Greinke the last time they faced him. That is a lot of hits to get off the starting pitcher, so there should be confidence heading into this one. Cleveland will need to turn those hits into runs, though. If the Guardians can just find a few more gaps, those two runs will turn into four or five runs.
The Guardians will have one of their better pitchers on the mound in this one. Civale has a 2.71 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and he has allowed just five home runs in 11 starts this season. He has been very good, and even better in July. One of his July starts came against the Royals. In that game, Civale went seven shutout innings and allowed just two hits while striking out nine. If Civale can stay hot and continue pitching like that, the Guardians will cover this spread.
Final Royals-Guardians Prediction & Pick
Greinke will go down as one of the better pitchers in baseball history. However, this season he has not been good. With how hot Civale is, and the Guardians getting to Greinke the last time, I lean towards Cleveland. I will take the Guardians to not only win this game, but cover the spread, as well.
Final Royals-Guardians Prediction & Pick: Guardians -1.5 (-102), Over 8.5 (-120)
