A Tuesday AL Central matchup is sure to cause some buzz around the league as the Kansas City Royals make their way to Target Field for the second straight night as they square off with the Minnesota Twins. Join us for our MLB odds series, where our Royals-Twins prediction and pick will be revealed.

After a tough loss at the hands of the Twins on Monday by a score of 4-2, the Royals saw their record dip to 48-69 in a year that was mainly expected to be a rebuilding one. Regardless, Kansas City has won six of ten matchups and will send out the savvy veteran in Zack Greinke, who has compiled a 4-7 record to go along with a 4.29 ERA on the year.

As for Minnesota, the Twins have fallen onto some hard times after five of their previous seven ballgames. Now, the Twins trail the Guardians by two games in the division standings, which is newsworthy considering that Minnesota has been in charge of the division for the majority of the regular season. Even so, the Twins are right in the thick of things and will call upon Sonny Gray to get themselves back on track. Thus far, Gray is 6-3 with a very productive 3.33 ERA on the year.

Here are the Royals-Twins MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Royals-Twins Odds

Kansas City Royals: +1.5 (-120)

Minnesota Twins: -1.5 (+100)

Over: 8 (-106)

Under: 8 (-114)

Why The Royals Could Cover The Spread

After being +1.5 run underdogs in Monday's matchup, the Royals fell just short of covering the spread in the series opener. No doubt, Kansas City got off to a more than ideal start when they clubbed a two-run shot in the first frame, but then proceeded to get shut out the rest of the way as the bats just couldn't get dialed in. When the dust settled, the Royals had scored just the pair of runs on eight hits while also stranding their eight men on-base. Obviously, the Royals sticks need more consistency to pull off the road win and cover the spread in doing so.

As a whole, KC has been a good collective team at the plate but not great. On the season, the Royals have scored 459 runs total which is ranked as the sixth-fewest in the league but they do happen to possess the 13th-best batting average with a .247 mark as a whole. After the organization decided to part ways with outfielder Andrew Benintendi, who was leading the club with a .320 average, the Royals have had to rely on longtime backstop Salvador Perez and young up-and-comer Bobby Witt Jr. to carry the offense. If the Royals can scatter some timely hits throughout the course of this one, then be on the lookout for the Twins to be on upset alert.

Not to mention, but it would also be helpful if Zack Greinke has his stuff hitting on all cylinders. Surely, Greinke's best days are behind him, but he can still spin it better than most major leaguers and has an abundant amount of experience on his side. Against the Twins, Greinke has surprisingly struggled with a 5-11 record and 4.72 ERA in 23 career starts in Minnesota.

Why The Twins Could Cover The Spread

While Southern California seemed to do the Twins dirty after finishing their road trip in the City of Stars by going 1-4 over the weekend, Minnesota was more than likely relieved to be returning back to Target Field to start a seven-game home stand. In fact, this next stretch of games for Minnesota is critical to keep their playoff hopes alive, as the Twins will play their next 13 of 16 ball games in the comfort of the home crowd cheering them on. For a team that is 32-25 at Target Field, this is all but a welcome sign for a team hanging on for dear life.

In order for Minnesota to have a repeat of yesterday's affair, the Twins will need a mixed balance of some stellar hitting and pitching. It also wouldn't help for even the most unlikeliest of heroes who may be in the middle of a slump to come through when the team needs him the most. This happened to be the case on Monday, as Max Kepler had entered play going hitless in his previous 29 at-bats before going 3-4 en route to helping his squad down the Royals. Even despite Kepler's rough patch, the Twins are ranked seventh and eighth in on-base and slugging percentage respectively.

Fortunately for Minnesota, they will also have Sonny Gray taking the mound. In his career, Gray has been fabulous with a 5-2 record overall and a dazzling 2.08 ERA in eight career starts versus the Royals.

Final Royals-Twins Prediction & Pick

The expectation is that the Royals will be giving playing time to several rookies yet again, and if that's the case, they just don't quite have the experience to knock off the Twins who are in the middle of the playoff race. With Gray on the mound, Minnesota will jump on KC early and often and eventually cover the spread in this one.

Final Royals-Twins Prediction & Pick: Twins -1.5 (+100)