The New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals clash Saturday in game 2 of an MLB series at Kauffman Stadium. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

New York Yankees Betting Preview

The Yankees look for a win after splitting their last 8 games. The Yankees are 1 of 8 AL teams out of the playoff race. The Yankees pitching staff is 10th in ERA (3.99), 6th in WHIP (1.23) and 23rd in quality starts (48). The Yankees offense is 25th in runs per game (4.16), 29th in batting average (.226) and 8th in homers (219). Gleyber Torres leads the Yankees with 161 hits and 66 RBI, while DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Volpe have combined for 229 hits and 104 RBI. Clarke Schmidt gets the ball, and he is 9-9 with a 4.65 ERA and 146 strikeouts this season. Schmidt is 2-0 with a 2.79 ERA and 8 strikeouts in his career against the Royals.

New York Yankees Team Facts

The Yankees have won 13 of their last 14 games against the Royals following a loss.
The Yankees have covered the run line in each of their last six Saturday night games.
The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Yankees’ last six night games against AL Central opponents.
The Yankees have led after 3 innings in each of their last five Saturday games against opponents that held a losing record.
The Yankees have led after 7 innings in each of their last six Saturday night games.

Kansas City Royals Betting Preview

The Royals look for a win after winning 7 of their last 10 games. The Royals have the second-worst record in the AL. The Royals pitching staff is 28th in ERA (5.19), 23rd in WHIP (1.41) and 29th in quality starts (32). The Royals’ offense is 24th in runs per game (4.18), 21st in batting average (.243) and 26th in homers (159). Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals with 174 hits and 96 RBI, while Salvador Perez and Maikel Garcia have combined for 261 hits and 128 RBI. Steven Cruz gets the ball, and he is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA and 14 strikeouts this season. This will be Cruz’s first career game against the Yankees.

Kansas City Royals Team Facts

The Royals have lost each of their last nine games against AL East opponents following a win.
The Royals have covered the run line each of their last six night games against teams that held a winning record.
The Royals have led after 5 innings in each of their last 11 night games against American League opponents.
The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Royals’ last three home games.
The Royals have won the first inning in each of their last four night games against opponents that held a winning record.

Matchup/League Facts

The Kansas City Royals rank 2nd in the league for triples this season (42).
The Kansas City Royals rank 29th in the league for walks this season (408).
The New York Yankees rank 30th in the league for doubles this season (217).
The New York Yankees rank 29th in the league for hits this season (1188).

Randy’s Pick

Not excited to get behind either of these teams that have nothing to play for, and Clarke Schmidt hasn’t been great with a 4.65 ERA and 1.34 WHIP. However, the Royals are the second-worst team in the AL, and Steven Cruz has just 11.2 innings under his belt this season. The Yankees are the better team, no matter how you slice it, and their starting pitcher has a larger sample size. It’s Yankees or pass for me.