The New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals meet Thursday in MLB playoffs action from Kauffman Stadium. This will be the Game 4 in a best-of-five postseason series. Here’s a Kansas City Royals vs NY Yankees Prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Yankees vs Royals pick.
New York Yankees Betting Preview
The Yankees were able to eke out a 6-5 win in the Saturday opener of this series, but then fell 4-2 in Game 2 to tie things back up as the series moved to KC. On Wednesday in Game 3, New York eked out a 3-2 win with just four team hits. Starter Clarke Schmidt finished with 4.2 innings and both earned runs.
For the starter gig in Game 4 the Yankees are sending out Gerrit Cole. This year Cole went 8-5 with a 3.41 ERA in 17 starts. Cole is 10-6 with a 3.05 postseason ERA over 18 career starts.
Kansas City Royals Betting Preview
Over on the Royals’ side, they scored all four of their runs Monday in the fourth inning and eventually mustered 11 team hits. In Wednesday’s matchup Kansas City had six hits in the defeat. Seth Lugo lasted 5.0 innings as starter with two hits, two earned and four walks.
As starter for Thursday the Royals will send out Michael Wacha. In 2024 Wacha went 13-8 with a 3.35 ERA in 29 regular-season starts. Wacha is 4-3 with a 5.36 career postseason ERA in nine games (seven starts).
Total Runs Facts
- Nine of the Royals’ last 10 games as underdogs have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Each of the Yankees’ last four road playoff games have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Royals’ last seven night games.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Yankees’ last five games as favorites against AL Central opponents.
Kansas City Royals Player Prop Facts
- Paul DeJong has hit a home run in each of his last two appearances with his team as a home underdog against AL East opponents.
- Vinnie Pasquantino has recorded at least one RBI in 10 of his last 11 home appearances against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- Michael Wacha has recorded five or more strikeouts in six of his last seven appearances with the Royals as underdogs against AL opponents.
- Bobby Witt Jr. has recorded at least one hit in each of his 15 previous appearances against the Yankees after playing the previous day.
- Kyle Isbel has scored at least one run in each of the Royals’ last five games as home underdogs against AL East opponents.
- Salvador Perez has recorded at least one total base in each of the Royals’ last 15 games against AL East opponents that held a winning record.
- Michael Wacha has recorded a win in three of his last four home appearances against AL East opponents.
- Vinnie Pasquantino has recorded a Double in three of his last four home appearances after playing the previous day.
- Tommy Pham has recorded at least one Single in each of his last six home appearances against the Yankees after playing the previous day.
New York Yankees Player Prop Facts
- Gerrit Cole has recorded a win in each of his last eight road appearances against AL opponents.
- Jose Trevino has recorded at least one Single in each of his last eight road appearances against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
- Gerrit Cole has recorded six or more strikeouts in each of his last seven road appearances.
- Aaron Judge has hit a home run in each of his last four appearances after playing the previous day.
- Anthony Rizzo has recorded at least one RBI in seven of his last eight playoff appearances with his team as a road favorite.
- Juan Soto has recorded a hit in each of his last nine playoff appearances after playing the previous day.
- Juan Soto has scored at least one run in nine of the Yankees’ last 10 road games against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
- DJ LeMahieu has recorded at least one total base in each of his last nine appearances in night playoff games.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Kansas City Royals rank 1st in the league for home runs allowed this season (146).
- The Kansas City Royals rank 2nd in the league for strikeouts against this season (1161).
- The New York Yankees rank 1st in the league for home runs this season (237).
- The New York Yankees rank 1st in the league for walks this season (672).
Kansas City Royals vs NY Yankees Prediction
I’m leaning toward the Royals. Kansas City should get a quality outing from Wacha, so long as he can bounce back from his spotty postseason debut. In game one, Wacha went 4.0 innings with three earned on four hits and three walks. Most of KC’s pitchers got into BB trouble in that one, actually, issuing a combined eight free passes in the game on the way to a 6-5 Yankees win. Cole was shaky in that one, with 5.0 innings and three earned on seven hits and two walks.
On Wednesday, the Royals pitchers put up nine walks to keep the BB trend going. New York didn’t have much at the plate outside of Giancarlo Stanton (3-for-5; homer; two RBI) however, so there’s not a lot for them to be happy about offensively. Kansas City should be in a great position to retaliate here.