The Kansas City Royals and the Philadelphia Phillies meet Saturday in MLB action from Citizens Bank Park. This will be the second installment in a three-game series over the weekend. In the Friday opener, Kansas City powered out a two-run win to strike first. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.

Kansas City Royals 

The Royals played the Mets this week, taking a nice three-game sweep with wins 7-6, 4-0 and 9-2. Drew Waters posted a three-run homer in the Thursday victory. On Friday versus Philly, Kansas City scored four runs in the sixth inning on the way to 11 team hits in a 7-5 win. Dairon Blanco had three RBI, and Bobby Witt added a pair of RBI himself on a 2-for-5 line.

In the starter slot for the Saturday game the Royals will go with Alec Marsh. Over his six games (five starts) in 2023 Marsh is 0-5 with a 6.75 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 24.0 innings. Marsh is coming off one clean inning versus the Mets with no hits and one walk. 

Kansas City Royals Team Facts

• The Royals have lost each of their last nine night games following a road win.
• The Royals have covered the run line in each of their last seven games.
• The Royals have lost the first inning in each of their last five games against opponents that held a winning record at Citizens Bank Park.
• The Royals have led after 3 innings in four of their last six games as underdogs.
• The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Royals’ last five games at Citizens Bank Park.

Kansas City Royals Player Prop Facts

• MJ Melendez has recorded at least one hit in each of the Royals’ last 10 games against opponents that held a winning record.
• MJ Melendez has recorded at least one total base in each of the Royals’ last 10 games against opponents that held a winning record.
• Bobby Witt Jr. has hit a home run in each of the Royals’ last three night games against opponents that held a winning record.
• MJ Melendez has scored at least one run in each of the Royals’ last four games as underdogs against NL opponents.
• Bobby Witt Jr. has recorded at least one RBI in each of the Royals’ last nine games against NL opponents.
• Bobby Witt Jr. ranks 4th in the league in Steals (32) this season.

Philadelphia Phillies 

Over on the Phillies’ side, they took on the Marlins this week and won three of four games. In Thursdays’ 4-2 victory, Philadelphia’s JT Realmuto and Brandon Marsh each provided two RBI. In the Friday game Philadelphia had a pretty solid offensive night overall, as both Nick Castellanos and Johan Rojas had two RBI apiece. 

Christopher Sanchez will take the mound for the start on Saturday for Philly. In his nine starts so far Sanchez is 0-3 with a 2.66 ERA and 41 strikeouts over 47.1 innings. Sanchez posted 5.0 clean innings against the Pirates in his last start with no hits and two walks.

Philadelphia Phillies Team Facts

• The Phillies have won each of their last nine home games against AL Central opponents following a loss.
• The Phillies have failed to cover the run line each of their last seven games against teams that held a losing record.
• The Phillies have won the first inning in each of their last five games against the Royals at Citizens Bank Park.
• The Phillies have trailed after 3 innings in four of their last five games as favourites against American League opponents.
• The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the last five games between the Royals and Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

Philadelphia Phillies Player Prop Facts

• Kyle Schwarber has hit a home run in three of the Phillies’ last four home games against opponents that held a losing record.
• Nick Castellanos has recorded at least one RBI in five of the Phillies’ last six games as home favourites.
• Nick Castellanos has scored at least one run in each of his last four appearances against the Royals.
• Trea Turner has recorded at least one hit in each of the Phillies’ last 11 Saturday games.
• Brandon Marsh has recorded at least one total base in each of his last seven appearances with the Phillies as home favourites.
• Kyle Schwarber ranks T7th in the league in Home Runs (27) this season.

Matchup/League Facts

• The Philadelphia Phillies ranks T4th in the league for triples this season (21).
• The Philadelphia Phillies ranks 6th in the league for walks allowed this season (315).
• The Kansas City Royals ranks 1st in the league for triples this season (29).
• The Kansas City Royals ranks 30th in the league for walks this season (273). 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll probably stay with Philly here. The line’s too thick to mess with, though. Sanchez doesn’t have a decision in his last three games, but he’s still pitching well. In that trio Sanchez has three earned runs on 10 hits and three walks over 17.0 total innings. As for Marsh, he did well in his last appearance but had nine earned in his previous 8.0 frames. On Friday Philadelphia had a bad sixth inning as starter Aaron Nola exited, but otherwise they did a pretty solid job all around. I like the Phillies to bounce back in game two to even things up.