Two teams playing out the stretch face 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 come into the series after sweeping the Astros. It has been a nice hot streak for the Royals to end the season. They have won six straight games and ten of their last 11 overall. It has come against some quality teams as well. They have won five of six over the Astros, three over the Guardians, and two over the White Sox. Still, the season has been long lost for the royals. They have a 54-102 record. That gives them the second-worst record in the majors this year, only better than the Oakland Athletics.
Meanwhile, the Tigers come in after winning two of four with the Athletics. The Tigers are now guaranteed to finish under .500 and miss the playoffs for a ninth straight season. They are 73-83 on the season. Still, there is reason for optimism. They are right now in third place in the division, and just a half-game behind the Guardians in the division. They also are ten behind the Twins. While they cannot catch the Twins, it is clear they will have a chance next year to contend in a weak AL Central.
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: 7.5 (-112)
Under: 7.5 (-108)
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 have been rolling at the plate as of late. They have scored 35 runs in the last six games, good for nearly six runs a game. On the year the Royals are 25th in runs scores, while sitting 21st in batting average, 27th in on-base percentage, and 22nd in slugging. Nelson Velazquez comes into the game hot. He has hit just .211 in the last week but is getting on base at a .318 rate. He has hit three home runs in the last week and a double, which has helped him drive in six runs in the last week. Velazquez has also scored five runs in the last week.
Meanwhile, MJ Melendez has also scored five times in the last week. He is hitting .231 in the last week with three doubles and a home run. He has also driven in five runs in the last week. Bobby Witt Jr. going to Melendez and Velazquez in scoring five runs in the last week. He is not hitting well though, hitting just .182 in the last week, and only a .217 on-base percentage. Still, he has hit a double and a triple while driving in three runs. The hottest bat in the lineup belongs to Nick Loftin. He is hitting .417 in the last week. Loftin does not have any extra-base hits but has scored twice, driven in three runs, and stolen a base in the last week.
The Royals will send Zack Greinke to the mound today. He is 1-15 on the year with a 5.37 ERA. He has pitched well in his last two starts, going 5.2 innings in the two starts and giving up just two runs. Still, Greinke has not pitched five innings since August 1. He also has not won a game since May 3rd.
Why The Tigers Could Cover The Spread
The Tigers got a strong pitching outing last time to take a 2-0 win, but in general, the pitching has been hit or miss as of late. In the last six games, they have up just five runs in the three wins, but 15 runs in the three losses. The Tigers will send Reese Olson to the mound today. He is 5-7 on the year with a 4.13 ERA. Olson has been pitching great as of late. In the last four starts, he has pitched 25.2 innings and given up just four runs. That is good for a 1.40 ERA, and he has gone 3-1 in those starts.
Meanwhile, the Tigers have struggled at the plate this year. They are 29th in runs scores, 28th in batting average, 28th in on-base percentage, and 29th in slugging. Spencer Torkelson has been productive in the last week. He is hitting just .200 with a .222 on-base percentage. Still, he has a double and a home run, helping him drive in five runs. He has also scored three times in the last week. Further, Andy Ibanez is hitting well. He is hitting .300 in the last week with a .391 on-base percentage. Ibanez has three RBIs with a double and a triple. He has not scored a run in the last week though.
The hottest bat in the lineup could be Parker Meadows. He is hitting .294 in the last week with a .368 on-base percentage. Meadows has hit two doubles and a home run in the last week while driving in one. He has also stolen two bases and scored four times in the last week. As a whole, the Tigers have hit just .216 in the last week. They have scored just 18 runs, but they have a run expectation of 18.8 runs, so they are scoring at the expected rate for how they are hitting. The biggest issue has been striking out the last week. They are currently averaging ten strikeouts per game in the last week.
Final Royals-Tigers Prediction & Pick
The Royals have been hitting much better than the Tigers as of late. They have been making better contact and scoring more runs. Normally, this would be enough to get them a win, but that will not be the case today. Zack Greinke has struggled all season long. Further, he has not been going deep into games. The Royals bullpen ranks 28th in the majors in terms of ERA this year. Further, the Tigers have Reese Olson going today who has been nearly unhittable as of late. The Tigers will get a good start from Olson and take advantage against a bad Royals bullpen.
Final Royals-Tigers Prediction & Pick: Tigers -1.5 (+136)