The Baltimore Orioles 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 Baltimore Orioles vs. Kansas City Royals prediction.
Starting Pitching Matchup
The Baltimore Orioles will send out Tomoyuki Sugano for the start here and Sugano is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA and 1 strikeout this season. This will be Sugano’s first career start against the Royals. The Kansas City Royals will start Michael Wacha here and Wacha is 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA and 2 strikeouts this season. In his last five starts against the Orioles, Wacha is 3-0 with a 4.32 ERA and 22 strikeouts.
Baltimore Orioles Recap
The Baltimore Orioles will look to bounce back after ending up with an 8-2 loss at the hands of the Royals in Friday’s series opener to fall to 3-5 on the year. After this series, the Orioles will head on the road again to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Orioles Drop Third In A Row
Cedric Mullins and Jordan Westburg each have a team-high 9 hits with 3 home runs with Mullins also adding a pair of doubles and a team-high 11 RBIs while Westburg has 4 RBIs. Ramon Urias and Tyler O’Neill each have 9 hits as well with O’Neill logging a pair of doubles. Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn have each chipped in 6 hits with a pair of doubles while Jackson Holliday has a team-high 8 strikeouts this season. Mullins has also chipped in a pair of stolen bases as well this season.
Why the Baltimore Orioles will win
- The Orioles have won each of their last eight Saturday games as underdogs against American League opponents.
- The Royals have lost seven of their last eight games as home favorites.
- The Royals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last eight games as home favorites.
- The Orioles have covered the run line in 12 of their last 13 games as underdogs against American League opponents following a road loss.
Baltimore Orioles Player Prop Facts
- Ryan Mountcastle has recorded a Double in each of the Orioles’ last four games as underdogs against the Royals.
- Ryan Mountcastle has recorded at least one RBI in each of the Orioles’ last five games as underdogs against the Royals.
- Ryan O’Hearn has recorded at least one Single in each of his last six appearances with the Orioles as underdogs.
- Cedric Mullins has recorded at least one hit in each of the Orioles’ last 11 day games.
- Gary Sanchez has hit a home run in three of his last five appearances with his team as a road underdog against AL Central opponents.
- Gary Sanchez has scored at least one run in each of his last five appearances with his team as a road underdog against AL Central opponents.
Kansas City Royals Recap
The Kansas City Royals will be out to get back to .500 after picking up the win over the Orioles in Friday’s opener to improve to 3-4 on the year. After this series, the Royals will head home for a game against the Minnesota Twins.
Royals Win Second Straight Series Opener
Maikel Garcia has a team-high 8 hits with 5 extra base hits including 3 doubles, 2 homers and 6 RBIs while Jonathan Indian has added 8 hits with a pair of doubles as well this season. Vinnie Pasquantino has 5 hits with a double, a triple, a home run and a team-high 7 RBIs while Bobby Witt Jr. and Michael Massey each have 7 hits with a pair of doubles. Witt Jr. also has a team-high 3 stolen bases while Salvador Perez has 7 hits with a double, a home run and 4 RBIs.
Why the Kansas City Royals will win
- The Royals have won 21 of their last 22 home games against American League opponents that held a losing record.
- The Orioles have lost seven of their last eight games against American League opponents that held a losing record.
- The Royals have covered the run line in 16 of their last 17 home games against American League opponents that held a losing record.
- The Orioles have failed to cover the run line in seven of their last eight games against American League opponents that held a losing record.
Kansas City Royals Player Prop Facts
- Bobby Witt Jr. has hit at least one home run in six of the Royals’ last nine games as favorites against AL East opponents.
- Hunter Renfroe has recorded at least one RBI in each of his last six home appearances against AL East opponents that held a losing record.
- Bobby Witt Jr. has scored at least one run in 14 of the Royals’ last 15 home games against AL opponents that held a losing record.
- Michael Wacha has recorded five or more strikeouts in each of his last eight home appearances against opponents that held a losing record.
- Bobby Witt Jr. has recorded at least one Single in each of the Royals’ last 10 day games against AL East opponents that held a losing record.
- Hunter Renfroe has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 11 appearances against AL opponents that held a losing record.
- Mark Canha has recorded a Double in four of his last five home appearances against AL East opponents.
- Michael Wacha has recorded a win in each of his last seven Saturday appearances with his team as a favorite.
- Maikel Garcia ranks 5th amongst qualified players for Slugging Percentage (.810) this season.
Total Runs Facts
- Twelve of the Royals’ last 13 day games against AL East opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Each of the Orioles’ last four day games against AL Central opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
Baltimore Orioles vs. Kansas City Royals Prediction
I’m on the Royals in this one. I think that Wacha bounces back after that tough first start and I really didn’t like what I saw from Sugano in his major league debut as he really labored through the abbreviated outing and really struggled with control. It’ll be interesting to see if the Royals can sustain their success from the opener, as KC has kind of been one and done in every series they’ve played so far, but I think in the end, the Royals get the win here so give me Kansas City in this one.