The Kansas City Royals will continue playing out on the Bay as they face-0ff with the Oakland Athletics. It's time to continue our MLB odds series with a Royals-Athletics prediction and pick.

Royals-Athletics Projected Starters 

Cole Ragans vs. Luis Medina

Cole Ragans (4-4) with a 3.14 ERA.

Last Start: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's

2024 Road Splits: 37.1 IP, 1-2, 3.13 ERA

Luis Medina (0-2) with a 5.87 ERA.

Last Start: 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K's

2024 Home Splits: 4.2 IP, 0-1, 11.57 ERA

Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Royals-Athletics Odds

Kansas City Royals: -1.5 (+100)

Moneyline: -180

Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (-120)

Moneyline: +152

Over: 7 (-114)

Under: 7(-106)

How to Watch Royals vs. Athletics

Time: 9:40 ET/6:40 PT

TV: MLB.TV

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Royals Will Cover The Spread/Win

Entering play with a 41-33 record, the Kansas City Royals remain in a firm position to make some noise in the American League. Having not clinched a postseason berth since winning it all back in 2015, the much-improved Royals have stuck to the rebuilding process and it is paying off in a big way. Although KC has been defeated in three of their last four games, the Royals remain only five games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central race.

Despite enduring a bit of a slump of late in recently dropping its last two series, baseball fans and bettors alike should be aware of how exciting and dangerous this Kansas City team can be when clicking on all cylinders.

To begin, the crafty lefty in Cole Ragans will be an intriguing name to be on the lookout for when he toes the rubber later this evening. On paper, Ragans boasts a dazzling 3.14 ERA on the season and is a young arm that has plenty of upside surrounding him. As a matter of fact, Ragans has allowed three runs or less dating back to May 11th which counts as six consecutive starts. Even more so, the 26-year-old southpaw should be in line for a favorable matchup as the Athletics offense ranks near the bottom of the majors in a multitude of categories.

Meanwhile, don't be alarmed if the KC bats come out and play as well. While the Royals' pitching numbers should not be ignored, their dynamic hitting prowess is a big reason for the team's vast improvement.  At first glance, the Royals have scored the fifth most runs in all of baseball and also love the long ball with a productive .404 slugging percentage. Altogether, the one-two punch of Ragans on the mound and a talented offense putting up runs behind him could be all it takes for KC to cover.

Why The Athletics Will Cover The Spread/Win

On the other side of things, the Athletics are once again proving to be one of the bottom-dwellers in baseball, but after besting the Royals to snap a long and grueling nine-game losing streak, Oakland finally has some winning confidence under their wings. At the moment, the A's are equipped with a 27-48 record which is good enough for last-place in the AL West.

To put it frankly, it hasn't been the prettiest of seasons for this Oakland squad, but any improvement whatsoever is encouraging, right? After losing an unthinkable 112 games in 2023, it appears that the A's are well on their way to improving that mark considerably in 2024. Nonetheless, the ultimate statement of moving in the right direction would require losing less than 100 games and putting forth some impressive winning streaks. With their ugly nine-game losing skid finally in the rearview mirror, can the Athletics finally string together a consistent brand of winning baseball?

In order to earn back-to-back wins for the first time since the first week of May (yes you read that correctly), the A's must continue to piece together productive at-bats. As previously mentioned above, this is a ball club that has scuffled when stepping into the batter's box. However, they have managed to reel off a combined 14 runs in their last two games combined. With the bats being hotter than usual, Oakland's best shot at defending home field and covering the spread will need to be thanks to the offense.

Furthermore, the offense must be on its A-game due to the unpredictability of starter Luis Medina. Despite having the skill to twirl the baseball at a high level, he has been up and down in limited action thus far in 2024. With that being said, Oakland bettors will need the A's to start off strong offensively so that they can give as much run support to Medina as possible.

Final Royals-Athletics Prediction & Pick

The Athletics have finally made a return to the win column! Unfortunately, it won't last long. Take the Royals to get back on track this evening.

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