The Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Royals meet Saturday in MLB action from Kauffman Stadium. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Kansas City Royals vs Texas Rangers Prediction.
Starting Pitching Matchup
Dane Dunning will get the start for the Rangers and is 3-2 with a 4.13 ERA and 39 strikeouts this season. In his career, Dunning is 1-1 with a 3.05 ERA and 18 strikeouts against Kansas City. The Royals will send out Michael Wacha here and is 1-3 with a 4.24 ERA and 28 strikeouts this season. In his career, Wacha is 0-1 with a 1.74 ERA and 8 strikeouts against Texas.
Texas Rangers Recap
The Texas Rangers come into this one looking to bounce back from a series-opening 7-1 loss at the hands of the Royals, not getting off to the start they’d want to after back-to-back series wins over Washington and Cincinnati. The Rangers actually jumped in front early, but it was a bullpen collapse that did the Rangers in in the losing effort.
Rangers Struggling For Consistent Results
Marcus Semien leads the Rangers with 35 hits along with 8 doubles, 5 home runs and 21 RBIs while Adolis Garcia has a team-high 8 home runs and 25 RBIs with 7 doubles as well as 4 stolen bases. Evan Carter also has 5 home runs with 12 RBIs while Jonah Heim has 3 homers and 19 RBIs and Josh Smith has a team-high 10 doubles.
Why the Texas Rangers will win
- Probable Starting Pitcher: Dane Dunning Record this season: 3-2 ERA: 4.13
- The Rangers have won each of their last 12 games as favorites against the Royals following a loss.
- The Royals have lost each of their last 12 games as underdogs against the Rangers following a win.
- The Rangers have covered the run line in each of their last seven games as favorites against the Royals following a loss.
- The Royals have failed to cover the run line in eight of their last nine games as underdogs against the Rangers following a win.
Kansas City Royals Recap
The Kansas City Royals come into this game looking to add on to their win over the Rangers from Friday’s series opener, aided by a 6-run 7th inning. The win kept the ball rolling in the right direction for KC after winning their series with the Blue Jays to start the week.
Royals Keeping It Rolling At The Plate
Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals with 42 hits including 4 home runs, 19 RBIs, 4 triples and 9 doubles while Salvador Perez has a team-high 8 home runs and 30 RBIs with 40 hits of his own. Nelson Velazquez also has a team-high 31 strikeouts while Witt Jr. has a team-high 10 stolen bases and Maikel Garcia has 8 stolen bases this season.
Why the Kansas City Royals will win
- Probable Starting Pitcher: Michael Wacha Record this season: 1-3 ERA: 4.24
- The Royals have won each of their last six games as underdogs against AL West opponents.
- The Rangers have lost four of their last five games as road favorites against AL Central opponents.
- The Royals have covered the run line in each of their last seven games against AL West opponents.
- The Rangers have failed to cover the run line in seven of their last eight games as favorites against AL Central opponents.
- The Royals have led after 5 innings in five of their last six games as underdogs against AL West opponents.
- The Royals have led after 3 innings in five of their last six games as underdogs against AL West opponents.
Kansas City Royals vs Texas Rangers Prediction
I’m on the over here. Dunning has been one of the weaker arms in this Rangers rotation and he hasn’t really been able to keep runs off of the board on his end. On the other side of the coin, Michael Wacha’s been giving up a fair number of hits as well and these are two potent lineups 1 through 9 so give me the over here as I think we have a much more competitive game in Saturday’s matchup.