Cleveland Guardians vs Kansas City Royals Betting Pick & Prediction 6/27/24
The forecast from Kansas City on Thursday calls for broken clouds and temperatures in the mid-80s. The Guardians and Royals will face off at 8:10 PM ET from Kauffman Stadium. Cleveland is 51-27, while the Royals are 44-38, and they are 1st and 3rd in the AL Central, respectively.
FS1 will be televising Thursday’s AL matchup, and the Guardians are the slight money line favorite, with their odds sitting at -115 compared to the Royals at -104. The over/under line is currently at 8.5 runs. Ben Lively is slated to start for the Guardians, while the Royals are starting Michael Wacha.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS VS CLEVELAND GUARDIANS BETTING PICK
The Pick: Kansas City Royals Moneyline -104
This game will be played at Kauffman Stadium at 8:10 ET on Thursday, June 27th.
HOW TO BET THE GUARDIANS VS ROYALS:
- We have the Royals winning by a score of 6 to 5
- If you’re looking for a run line pick, we also like the Royals to cover
- As for an over/under pick, we have this game finishing with 11 runs and like the over
Guardians Records & Stats
The Guardians will be looking to get back on track after closing out their series vs. the Orioles with a 4-2 loss. This was especially tough, as they held a lead going into the 9th inning before the Orioles scored two runs in the bottom of the 9th. Cleveland was the +191 underdog going into this road game.
Carlos Carrasco got the start for the Guardians, going five innings and giving up just two runs on six hits. He only had three strikeouts in the outing and took the loss. Gabriel Arias was hot at the plate, going 2/3 with a homer and a run scored. The Guardians also had a big game from Jhonkensy Noel, going 1/4 with a homer.
Cleveland is on the road today to take on the Royals, coming in with a record of 51-27, which has them leading the AL Central by eight games over the Twins. The Guardians are 11-6 against other teams in the AL Central. They have won five straight games as the favorite, and they are 35-15 overall as the favorite this year.
So far, the Guardians have been tough to beat at home, going 26-9, and they are 25-18 on the road. Cleveland won the final two games of their series vs. the Orioles and are 7-3 across their last 10 games. The Guardians’ series record is 18-6-2 this year, and they have won three straight series.
When betting the run line, the Cleveland Guardians have been a solid play this season, going 45-33 overall. They are 25-18 against the run line on the road and 20-15 at home. The Guardians have an average run margin of 1.3 runs per game this season. They have been favored in 50 games and underdogs in 28, going 25-25 against the run line as the favorite and 20-8 as the underdog.
The Cleveland Guardians are on the road against the Kansas City Royals today. The over/under line for the game is set at 8.5 runs, which is slightly higher than their combined run average of 8.8 runs per game this season. Overall, the Guardians have played 72 games this season, and the over has hit in 37 of them. When the over/under line is set at 8.5 runs, the over has hit in 8 of the 19 games.
Cleveland is sending Ben Lively to the mound today vs. the Royals, and he comes into the game with a record of 7-3 and an ERA of 3.03. Lively has made 12 starts this year and has pitched well on the road, coming in with a record of 3-3 and an ERA of 3.92. At home, he is 4-0 with a 2.17 ERA. Lively’s WHIP for the season is 1.16, and he has turned in three quality starts. In his most recent outing, Lively went 5 2/3 innings, giving up two earned runs, and picking up the win. Before that, he had given up four earned runs in back-to-back starts.
Heading into today’s game, the Guardians are the 3rd highest-scoring team in the league, averaging 5.1 runs per game. They have been even better at home, averaging 5.2 runs per contest. Cleveland’s offense has been very good at avoiding strikeouts this season, as their 7 strikeouts per game is the 3rd best mark in the league. The Guardians have two hitters in the top 5 in home runs, with José Ramírez leading the team and 4th in the league with 21 homers, and Josh Naylor is 2nd on the team and 5th in the MLB with 20 homers.
Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor have been swinging the bat well of late, with Ramirez batting .316 over his last nine games and Naylor hitting .345 over his last eight games. During this stretch, Naylor has three homers and eight RBIs, while Ramirez has also gone deep three times.
Royals Records & Stats
To close out their series vs. the Marlins, the Royals picked up a 5-1 win. Leading up to the game, they were the heavy favorite at -209. Offensively, the Royals scored their five runs on json0 hits and didn’t hit a home run.
Brady Singer put together a good start for the Royals, going 7 1/3 innings and giving up just one earned run, and picking up the win. He also issued just one walk and struck out five Marlins batters. Kansas City’s offense was carried by Freddy Fermin, who went 2/4 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. The Royals also had three other players with two hits.
Kansas City is 44-38 overall, putting them 3rd in the AL Central. They are nine games behind the Guardians for the division lead. The Royals are 13-9 against other teams in the AL Central. Today’s matchup vs. the Guardians will be the first of the series, and the Royals are 12-9 as home underdogs this year.
At home, the Royals have gone 27-15, and they are 17-23 on the road. Kansas City has dropped seven of their last ten games and took their most recent series vs. the Marlins.
When the Royals win, they do so by an average of 3.7 runs per game, which has helped them go 46-36 against the run line this season. They’ve been a better bet at home, where they are 25-17 against the run line, compared to 21-19 on the road. As the underdog, they have been a solid bet, going 29-19 against the run line, compared to 17-17 as the favorite. Their overall run differential is +0.6 runs per game, but they have been outscored by an average of 0.0 runs per game on the road and have a run differential of +1.2 runs per game at home.
The Kansas City Royals are at home today against the Cleveland Guardians. The over/under line for the game is set at 8.5 runs, which is exactly the combined run average for Royals games this season. The Royals have gone over the total in 34 of their 79 games this season, and their games have averaged exactly 8 runs per game. The under has hit in five straight Royals games.
Right-hander Michael Wacha gets the start for the Royals today as he faces off against the Guardians. Wacha has made 13 starts this season and has a record of 4-6. His ERA for the season is 4.07, along with a WHIP of 1.22. Wacha’s last outing came on June 22nd, where he took the loss, going five innings and giving up one earned run on three hits. Before that outing, he had given up two earned runs in three straight starts. Wacha has finished with a no-decision in two of his last three outings.
The Royals are averaging 4.5 runs per game this season, which is 13th in the league. At home, they have been even better, averaging 5.2 runs per contest. As a team, they are batting .243, which is 12th in the MLB, and are also among the league leaders in fewest strikeouts per game. Kansas City’s team on-base percentage of .305 is 18th in the league.
Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez have been the Royals’ top power threats this season, with both players having 12 home runs. Witt Jr. is batting .311 overall, while Perez comes in at .279. Witt Jr. and Perez are also on three-game hitting streaks. Vinnie Pasquantino has struggled of late, going just 7/34 in his last nine games.