Houston Astros (34-18) vs. Kansas City Royals (16-34)
June 5, 2022 2:10 pm EDT
The Line: Kansas City Royals +190 / Houston Astros -222; Over/Under: +9
(Get latest betting odds)
The Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals meet Sunday in MLB action at Kauffman Stadium. The Houston Astros look for a win after winning 7 of their last 10 games. The Kansas City Royals need a win after losing 5 of their last 6 games.
The Houston Astros have scored 15 runs in their last 3 games and 3 or fewer runs in 6 of their last 9 games. The Astros have split their last 8 games when scoring 3 or fewer runs. Michael Brantley leads the Astros with 48 hits and 17 RBI, while Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Pena have combined for 93 hits and 56 RBI. Framber Valdez gets the ball, and he is 5-2 with a 2.57 ERA and 50 strikeouts this season. Valdez is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA and 6 strikeouts in his career against the Royals.
The Kansas City Royals have scored 9 runs in their last 3 games and 3 or fewer runs in 5 of their last 6 games. The Royals have lost 5 straight games when scoring 3 or fewer runs. Andrew Benintendi leads the Royals with 62 hits and 21 RBI, while Hunter Dozier and Whit Merrifield have combined for 94 hits and 43 RBI. Jonathan Heasley gets the ball, and he is 0-2 with a 4.66 ERA and 10 strikeouts this season. This will be Heasley’s first career game against the Astros.
The Astros are 5-0 in their last 5 road games and 23-7 in their last 30 overall. The Royals are 2-7 in their last 9 Sunday games and 16-36 in their last 52 overall. The under is 43-15-1 in Astros last 59 overall. The over is 11-3 in Royals last 14 overall. The Astros are 9-3 in the last 12 meetings in Kansas City and 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
Framber Valdez has been solid all year, and that includes 33 hits and 11 runs allowed in his last 43 innings. Jonathan Heasley is still a young pitcher with little reps under his belt, and he has a 4.76 ERA and 1.53 WHIP through 34 career innings. Not what I want to see when going up against this Astros lineup that’s due for a breakout performance. The only option here for me is the Astros, and I’ll lay the RL for max betting value.
