It is the start of a weekend interleague series as the Kansas City Royals visit the Philadelphia Phillies. It is time to continue our MLB odds series with a Royals-Phillies prediction, pick, and how-to watch.

The Royals enter the series off a sweep of the New York Mets and are winners of six straight games. While sweeping the Mets and the Twins, the Royals have gotten a combination of quality offense and some good pitching. In the six games, they scored 40 runs, while only surrendering 21. It has not been just their play that is winning games though. The Royals won on a walk-off balk in the first game of the Mets, as they imploded in the series.

Meanwhile, the Phillies just took three of four from the Marlins and were a 12th-inning loss away from taking the sweep. In the series, the Phillies for multiple great starts from their starting pitching, including their newest addition, Michael Lorenzen. As they took three wins in the series, the Phillies jumped into the second Wild Card spot, and are a game up on the Reds who hold the third spot. The Marlins still are lurking though, just a half-game back of the Reds with the Diamondbacks and Cubs close behind.

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

MLB Odds: Royals-Phillies Odds

Kansas City Royals: +1.5 (-102)

Philadelphia Phillies: -1.5 (-118)

Over: 9 (-122)

Under: 9 (+100)

How To Watch Phillies vs. Royals

TV: BSKC/NBC10

Stream: MLB.TV/ESPN+

Time: 7:05 PM ET/ 4:05 PM PT

*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Phillies Could Cover The Spread

The Phillies got four great solid starts in the series with the Marlins. Each started went at least six innings and each one gave up two or fewer runs. On the year the Phillies are 11th in ERA, eighth in WHIP, and ninth in opponent batting average. They are also tied for sixth in quality starts. Hoping to keep it rolling for the Phillies today will be Aaron Nola. Nola is 9-7 on the season with a 4.43 ERA and 1.12 WHIP. The last time out was not his best performance though. He made it through just 4.2 innings while giving up seven runs, five of them earned.

On the offensive end of things, the Phillies are fairly average. On the year, they are 16th in runs scored this year, with a 12th-ranked batting average, and 13th-ranked on-base percentage. The Phillies also sit 156h in slugging as well. Alec Bohm continues to hit well for the Phillies. He is hitting .290 on the season, which is good for 17th in the majors. He also has 69 RBIs, which is good for 18th in the majors. Since the start of July, Bohm has driven in 21 runs with the help of three home runs and six doubles. He is hitting .340 since then and has scored 16 times.

Bryson Stott also continues to be hot. On the year he is hitting .301, which leads the team, and is ranked tenth in the majors. In the last week, he is hitting .320 with two RBIS and three doubles. He has also scored three times in the last week. While Trea Turner is in a slump at the plate. He is still scoring runs. He is hitting just .103 in the last week but has scored four times. Turner has scored every time he has gotten on base in the last week. Brandon Marsh has also scored four times in the last week. He has done this while hitting a home run and a double. Marsh also has six RBIs in the last seven days while hitting .267 and having a .450 on-base percentage.

Why The Royals Could Cover The Spread

The Royals' offense, which has struggled all year, came alive in the last six games. On the season they are ranked 29th in runs scored and on-base percentage while sitting 25th in slugging and 22nd in batting average. In the last week, multiple players are hitting well, led by Bobby Witt Jr. He has hit .556 in the last week with a .571 on base percentage. Witt has hit three home runs, a triple, and two doubles in the last week, which has led to him driving in 13 runs in his last six games. He has also scored seven times and stolen three bases.

Joining Witt in driving in runs is Maikel Garcia. Garcia has six RBIs in the last week, with the help of a double and a triple. Meanwhile, he is hitting .409 and has scored five times in the last week. He has also stolen a base. Base stealing has been a big part of the Royals' game as of late. Samad Taylor is leading the way in that. In the past week, he has stolen four bases, part of the 13 the Royals have stolen. He is being used mainly as a pinch runner, but he has hit .429 with a double and an RBI at the plate while scoring three times.

On the hill, today for the Royals will be Jordan Lyles. This year he is 2-12 with a 6.15 ERA. Lyles has been better as of late though. In July, he started strong, giving up just one run in 11 innings. By the end of the month, he has pitched 21 innings and given up nine runs. That was good for a 3.86 ERA and a 1-1 record. He could have easily gone to 3-1 on the month with a little bit more run support. In his two no-decisions, he got only three runs of support.

Final Phillies-Royals Prediction & Pick

This year, when Jordan Lyles takes the mound the Royals are 2-18. In those 18 losses, 15 of them have been by more than two runs. He has a single-digit strike-out rate this year and one of the highest barrel rates in the majors. That is a major issue when facing a team like the Phillies. When the Phillies make contact, the ball goes a long way. They have huge bats with Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Nick Castellanos. Even more of an issue, according to Ballpark Pal, the weather is projecting a 33 percent boost in home run capability today. While Nola is the only pitcher in the last five starts for the Phillies to have a bad one, he is not going to need to do much today. Take the Phillies in this one.

Final Phillies-Royals Prediction & Pick: Phillies -1.5 (-118) and Over 9 (-122)