The Athletics are visiting the Kansas City Royals on Saturday, June 14th at the Kauffman Stadium in the second game of this series, with the Athletics having a 1-0 lead. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s an Athletics vs Royals Prediction. We will examine:
The Kansas City Royals’ recent form and player performance
The Athletics’ recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Kansas City Royals
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Athletics
Recent betting trends in games played between the Athletics vs Kansas City Royals
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Athletics vs Kansas City Royals game
Kansas City Royals Preview
The Kansas City Royals have a 34-36 record this season and are sitting in 4th place in the AL Central. The Royals have a 19-17 home record and are 29-40 in over/under. They are coming off a 4-6 home defeat by the Athletics, and are 1-6 in their last 7 games. Over is 8-2 in their last 10 games, and they are playing the Rangers and the Padres next.
The Royals have a .251 batting average this season, a .304 OBP, and a .369 Slugging percentage. Kansas’ pitching staff has a 3.43 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. Maikel Garcia leads the Royals with 77 hits, and he is the team’s best hitter with a .309 batting average. Vinnie Pasquantino leads the team both in RBI, with 38, and in home runs, with 10.
Michael Lorenzen (R) is the projected starter for the Royals, and he has a 4-6 record, 4.94 ERA, and 1.38 WHIP. He has been better at home, with a 3.00 ERA across four home starts, but he has been in terrible form, having given up 15 runs in 13.2 innings of work across his last three starts. Michael Lorenzen has a record of 4-1 with an ERA of 1.70 and 37 strikeouts in 7 appearances against the Oakland Athletics in his career.
Athletics Preview
The Athletics have a 27-44 record this season and are sitting in last place in the AL West. The Athletics have a 15-21 road record and are 40-26 in over/under. They are coming off a 6-4 road victory over the Royals, which snapped their previous three-game losing streak. Over is 10-4 in their last 14 games, and they are playing the Guardians and the Astros next.
The Athletics have a .255 batting average this season, a .321 OBP, and a .417 Slugging percentage. Athletics’ pitching staff has a 5.61 ERA and 1.52 WHIP. Jacob Wilson leads the Athletics with 95 hits and a team-high .367 batting average, while Tyler Soderstrom leads the team with 45 RBI, and Brent Rooker adds a team-high 15 home runs.
Jacob Lopez (L) is the projected starter for the Athletics, and he has a 0-4 record, 6.00 ERA, and 1.71 WHIP. He has been terrible on the road, with a 12.86 ERA in his four road games, but he is coming off a shutout start in 4 innings pitched against the Orioles. This will be his first career start against the Royals.
Why the Kansas City Royals will win
- The Athletics have lost each of their last 13 road games after playing the previous day.
- The Royals have won 29 of their last 33 home games against American League opponents that held a losing record.
- The Athletics have failed to cover the run line in each of their last four games as road underdogs following a win.
- The Royals have covered the run line in six of their last seven day games following a loss.
- The Athletics have lost the first inning in each of their last six games against opponents that held a winning record at Kauffman Stadium.
- The Royals have led after 3 innings in each of their last four day games against the Athletics.
- The Royals have led after 5 innings in each of their last four day games against the Athletics.
Why the Athletics will win
- The Royals have lost each of their last eight games as home favorites.
- The Athletics have won six of their last seven games as underdogs against the Royals following a road win.
- The Royals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last nine games as home favorites.
- The Athletics have covered the run line in each of their last eight Saturday day games as road underdogs against AL Central opponents.
- The Athletics have won the first inning in each of their last four day games against American League opponents.
- The Athletics have led after 3 innings in seven of their last eight day games.
- The Athletics have led after 5 innings in each of their last four day games against American League opponents.
Total Runs Facts
- Seven of the Athletics’ last eight road games have gone OVER the total runs line.
- Eight of the Royals’ last 10 games have gone OVER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Athletics’ last seven games at Kauffman Stadium.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in 17 of the Royals’ last 19 games against AL West opponents.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Royals rank 30th in the league for home runs this season (46).
- The Royals rank 30th in the league for walks this season (167).
- The Athletics rank 30th in the league for walks allowed this season (277).
- The Athletics rank 30th in the league for home runs allowed this season (104).
Athletics vs Royals Prediction
The Athletics are 3-1 in their last 4 meetings against the Royals, but the Royals are 3-1 in their last 4 meetings in Kansas City. Under is 5-3 in their last 8 meetings.
In this Athletics vs Royals Prediction, the Royals are coming as -155 home favorites. The Royals are rightfully favored, as they have a better overall record, but are above average at home, while the A’s have been playing better on the road. Instead of picking a side, I like a lot of runs in this game, as both pitchers have been terrible with a combined 10.94 ERA, and the Athletics have the worst bullpen in the league, with a 6.11 ERA. Both teams have been playing higher-scoring games lately, going for 18-6 to the over in their last 24 games combined, and yesterday’s game had 10 total runs. Take the over 9.5 in this one.