The Kansas City Royals and the Milwaukee Brewers meet Wednesday in MLB action from American Family Field. This will be the second installment in a quick two-game set between these teams this week. In the Tuesday opener, the Royals bagged a three-run win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Kansas City played the Orioles over the weekend, bagging a Friday win 9-2 but otherwise losing 8-4 and 5-0. In the Tuesday game versus Milwaukee, the Royals put up six team hits in a 5-2 victory. Mike Minor lasted 6.0 innings with five hits and one earned run.
For the starter job in the Wednesday game, the Royals will send out Brad Keller. Across his 95.0 innings this year Keller has 119 hits with 69 runs (63 earned), 13 homers allowed, 48 walks, 83 Ks and a 5.97 ERA.
Over on the Brewers’ side, they had a nice series versus the Reds this weekend, winning all three games. In the Tuesday opener, Milwaukee had a brief lead but ultimately couldn’t keep up during the loss. Brett Anderson posted 5.0 innings with three hits, two walks and two earned.
For the starter role in the Wednesday game, the Brewers will go with Brett Anderson. So far this year Anderson has 58 hits, 28 runs (25 earned), seven homers allowed, 15 walks, 32 Ks and a 4.33 ERA.
The Royals are 16-35 in their last 51 road games and 20-44 in their last 64 on grass. KC is 40-93 in their last 133 road games versus a team with a winning record and 2-9 in their last 11 in game two of a series.
Meanwhile, the Brewers are 16-5 in their last 21 versus a right-handed starter and 35-16 in their last 51 overall. The under is 4-1-1 in the Brewers’ last six Wednesday games and the over is 5-2 in their last seven versus a team with a losing record.
PICK: I’m going to go with the Brewers. This should be a pretty solid starter matchup, however. Keller had a bad outing versus the Red Sox to close out June, but since then he’s posted 14.0 innings with nine hits and three earned over two starts. As for Anderson, he was solid in his July 7 outing versus the Mets, but hasn’t seen a ton of innings since mid-June. If Anderson can come out strong here I think Milwaukee has a good shot.