Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Kansas City Royals MLB Picks, Odds, Predictions 6/1/2021

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Kansas City Royals meet in MLB action from Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday.

The Pittsburgh Pirates will look to bounce back from a 7-3 loss at the hands of the Royals on Monday. Bryan Reynolds led the way, putting up a solo home run and a total of two RBIs while Jacob Stallings added an RBI as well to cap off the scoring for the Pirates in the loss. Gregory Polanco, Adam Frazier and Kevin Newman each had a double while Erik Gonzalez added a base hit as well as the Pirates had just six hits as a team in the losing effort. Chad Kuhl took the loss, falling to 0-2 after allowing three earned runs on six hits while striking out five over four innings of work. Wil Crowe will start here and is 0-3 with a 5.67 ERA and 25 strikeouts this season. This will be Crowe’s first start against Kansas City.

The Kansas City Royals will try to build on their win over the Royals last time out. Adalberto Mondesi went 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs while Kelvin Gutierrez had two RBIS as well. Michael A. Taylor, Hunter Dozier and Salvador Perez each had an RBI as well to round out the scoring for KC in the win with Taylor and Dozier each adding a double. Whit Merrifield and Nicky Lopez each had a double while Andrew Benintendi went 2 for 4 at the dish. Edward Olivares and Carlos Santana each had a base hit as well to finish off the offense for Kansas City in the winning effort. Mike Minor got the win to improve to 4-2 on the year after allowing two runs on five hits while striking out seven over six innings of work. Brady Singer will start here and is 2-4 with a 4.91 ERA and 49 strikeouts this season. This will be Singer’s first career start against Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh is 21-45 in their last 66 games as an underdog and 8-21 in their last 29 games overall while the under is 4-0-1 in their last 5 games against a team with a losing record. Kansas City is 4-1 in their last 5 home games and 2-5 in their last 7 games as a favorite while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 interleague games as a favorite. Pittsburgh is 1-4 in the last 5 meetings between these two teams and 0-5 in the last 5 meetings between these two teams in Kansas City.

Crowe was actually pitching well in his last couple of starts, but realistically, he’s allowed seven runs in his last 6.1 innings, and he’s struggling to find the plate with his pitches. Brady Singer and the Royals appear to be turning the corner, but I still think Singer’s not a pitcher I’m up to trusting just yet. I do think the offenses show up, and we get a game that comes in over the number.