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It is an AL Central showdown as the Kansas City Royals face the Detroit Tigers. It is time to continue our MLB odds series with a Royals-Tigers prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.
The Royals' recent stretch of play has put them in danger of dropping to the worst team in the league. Over the weekend they lost two of three to the Angels, making them 2-14 over their last 16 games. The Royals are now 19-52 on the season, just 1.5 games better than the Athletics at 19-55. They are currently on pace for 119 losses this year, which would tie them with the 2003 Tigers for the second most of all time.
Meanwhile, the Tigers took three of four from the Twins over the weekend. This is a nice turnaround for the club. Before the series, they had won just once in their previous 12 games. They took three wins over the weekend to put them at 30-40 on the season. It also put the Tigers back in the thick of the playoff race in the AL Central. They sit just five games back of the Twins for the division lead.
Here are the Royals-Tigers MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Royals-Tigers Odds
Kansas City Royals: +1.5 (-164)
Detroit Tigers: -1.5 (+136)
Over: 9 (-105)
Under: 9 (-115)
How To Watch Royals vs. Tigers
TV: BSKC/BSDET
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 6:40 PM ET/ 3:40 PM PT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Royals Could Cover The Spread
The Royals' offense is one of the worst in the majors. They are 28th in runs scored on the year while sitting 29th in on-base percentage, 26th in slugging, and 23rd in batting average. Kansas City also just lost a major part of their offense. Vinnie Pasquantino will be out for the rest of the season with a torn labrum in his shoulder. He was third on the team in home runs and fourth in RBIs before going down for the season.
This will put more pressure on the combination of Salvador Perez, Bobby Witt Jr., and MJ Melendez. Perez is the team leader in batting average, home runs, and RBIs on the season. This month has been a little bit of a struggle though. He has just five RBIs and two home runs while hitting only .208. Strikeouts have been a major issue. He has struck out 17 times, and at least once in all but three games this month.
Bobby Witt Jr. has been hitting well in June. This month he is hitting .305 with a home run, two doubles, and four RBIs. He has also stolen four bases this month, placing him at 21 for the season. That figure leads the team and is good for fourth in the majors. Melendez continues the theme of hitting better this month. He is hitting just .259 on the month, but that is well above his .218 average for the season. He also has a stolen base this month to go with his six RBIS and home runs.
The Royals will be sending Jordan Lyles to the mound today. He is 0-11 on the year with a 6.89 ERA. His last two starts have been dreadful. He has given up five runs in each of the last two starts while going seven and six innings in the two games. This is not abnormal for Lyles. Lyles has given up five or more runs in a game eight times this year.
Why The Tigers Could Cover The Spread
The Tigers figured out how to score runs over the weekend. They currently rank tied for 29th in the majors with 262 runs on the year. That gives them an average of 4.23 runs per game. Over the weekend they scored 21 runs in four games. Those runs were scored in three of the games with the fourth game being a shutout loss. Regardless, they still scored 5.25 runs per game over the four games, and are averaging 5.57 runs per game over their last seven. Considering they have lost eight times this year by just one run, the offensive uptick could be huge for their playoff chances. If they win each of those just half of those one-run games the Tigers are 34-36, just a game back of the Twins.
Spencer Torkelson has been a huge part of the offensive uptick for the Tigers. While he has just ten RBIs on the month, eight of those have come in the last seven games. Ultimately, if he can continue this offensive production the Tigers will be winning more games, and they may go from sellers to buyers at the trade deadline. Javier Baez is in a similar situation as Torkelson. He is hitting .262 on the month with two home runs and either RBIS. One of the home runs and six RBIs have come during the last seven games.
The Tigers are sending Reese Olson to the mound today. He is 0-2 on the season with a 6.08 ERA. He has made just three starts this year, and outside of the last one he has been solid. Last time out he went just 3.1 innings giving up seven runs with six of them being earned. In the previous two starts, he combined for ten innings of work while giving up just three runs overall.
Final Royals-Tigers Prediction & Pick
The recent offensive improvement for the Tigers is encouraging. They are scoring nearly a run more per game as of late, which will win them a fair amount of games. They also have a pitching advantage in this game. While Olson was bad in his last outing, he has just as many performances giving up two or fewer runs as Lyles, and he has done it in 11 fewer starts. The offensive improvement for the Tigers should continue today as they get another win.
Final Royals-Tigers Prediction & Pick: Tigers -1.5 (+136)
