The Royals make the trip to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers! Both of these teams have been very good this season and should be in the playoff hunt through the end of the year. The Royals are spiraling a bit, while the Dodgers are one of the hotter teams in the league, right now. Our MLB odds series has our Royals-Dodgers prediction, odds, and pick for Friday.

Royals-Dodgers Projected Starters 

Cole Ragans vs. Gavin Stone

Cole Ragans (4-4) with a 3.08 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP

Last Start: Pitched six innings and gave up one run on three hits with one walk and nine strikeouts in a Royals loss.

2024 Road Splits: (1-2) 2.97 ERA

Gavin Stone (7-2) with a 2.93 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP

Last Start: Pitched 5.2 innings and gave up two runs on eight hits with two walks and six strikeouts in a Dodgers win.

2024 Home Splits: (3-1) 3.00 ERA

Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Royals-Dodgers Odds

Kansas City Royals: +1.5 (-162)

Moneyline: +138

Los Angeles Dodgers: -1.5 (+134)

Moneyline: -164

Over: 8.5 (+102)

Under: 8.5 (-124)

How to Watch Royals vs. Dodgers

Time: 10:10 pm ET

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TV: Bally Sports Southwest / Spectrum SportsNet

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Why The Royals Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Royals have played well so far this year and have a 40-30 record. They have lost four straight leading into this game. Their pitching is just outside the top 10, while their batting has been a top-10 unit. Seth Lugo has made a potent pitching combination with Brady Singer, Alec Marsh, and Cole Ragans. Their bats have been red-hot recently. Salvador Perez and Bobby Witt Jr. have been the main standouts for the Royals behind the plate, but Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino have also played well. The Royals have been one of the bigger surprises this season.

The Royals are starting Cole Ragans on the mound. He has a 4-4 record, a 3.08 ERA, and a 1.15 WHIP on the year up to this point. Through 79 innings, he has allowed 28 runs on 66 hits with 25 walks and 98 strikeouts. He has started in 14 games so far this season and the Royals are 7-7 in those games. Ragans has been a key piece for the Royals' strong pitching lineup this year, but he gets a huge challenge in this game against the star-studded offense of the Dodgers.

The Royals offense has been red-hot after an initial slow start. They are seventh in team batting average at .253 after finishing last season at .254. Their offensive output has been led mainly by Bobby Witt Jr. in almost every batting category. Witt Jr. leads in batting average at .330, in home runs at 11, in RBI at 50, in OBP at .379, and in total hits at 93. The Royals are playing well behind the plate, but Gavin Stone should be a huge challenge on the mound with how strong of a year he has been having.

Why The Dodgers Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Dodgers were the team that everyone was talking about before the season. They have a 42-27 record so far and have been good, but were expected to be even better. Their offense is a top-three unit, while their pitching is a top-five unit in the MLB. On offense, there are stars galore with Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernandez, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, and Max Muncy. Their pitching is then led by Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and James Paxton on the mound.

The Dodgers are starting Gavin Stone on the mound where he has a 7-2 record, a 2.93 ERA, and a 1.24 WHIP. Through 67.2 innings, Stone has allowed 22 runs on 63 hits with 21 walks and 53 strikeouts. The Dodgers are 9-3 in the 12 games that he has started in this season. Stone has been having a great season for the Dodgers and has been more underrated. This is a difficult matchup for him against an offense that has talent and had momentum overall this season.

The Dodgers have the most talent on offense in the MLB, and they have a .258 batting average, which is third in the MLB. This is after they finished with a .257 batting average last year before they had a massive offseason by picking up a lot of talent in free agency. Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Teoscar Hernandez lead the way in most of the important batting categories. Hernandez leads in home runs at 17 and in RBI at 50. Betts leads in OBP at .412 and in hits at 83. Then, Ohtani leads the way in batting average at .311. They have a tough matchup against Cole Ragans for the Royals, where he has been a key piece in a strong pitching lineup for Kansas City.

Final Royals-Dodgers Prediction & Pick

The Royals and Dodgers enter this matchup with a huge pitching matchup with both the Ragans for the Royals and Stone for the Dodgers. The Dodgers have more talent on offense than the Royals, but the difference in play is still marginal this season. Expect the Royals to keep it close thanks to Ragans on the mound. The Dodgers might still win as the better team, but the Royals should cover on the road.

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Final Royals-Dodgers Prediction & Pick: Royals +1.5 (-162)