Thursday’s Astros vs. Royals game has an 8:10 PM ET start time and is being played at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX. The Astros are the betting favorite, with their money line odds sitting at -153, while the odds for a Royals win are sitting at +129. The over/under line is currently at 8 runs.
This AL matchup features Brady Singer for the Royals and Hunter Brown for the Astros. Kansas City is 75-59 this season, putting them 2nd in the AL Central, while the Astros are 71-62 and are leading the AL West.
Royals Close in on AL Central Lead as Singer Takes the Mound Against Astros
The Kansas City Royals are 75-59 this season and trail the Guardians by just one game in the AL Central. They have gone 29-14 against divisional opponents and are 41-28 at home, compared to 34-31 on the road. The Royals are 43-25 as the favorite and 32-34 as the underdog. Today, they are on the road against the Astros and the over/under line is set at 8 runs, which is lower than their season average of 9 runs per game. Kansas City has played 64.2% of their games with over/under lines set higher than 8 runs.
Brady Singer is starting for the Royals today and is 9-9 with a 3.38 ERA. He has a WHIP of 1.25 and 11 quality starts in 26 outings. Singer has allowed 16 home runs and is averaging 8.65 strikeouts per nine innings. The Royals offense is 5th in runs per game and is hitting .258 as a team. Bobby Witt Jr. is hitting .306 over his last nine games, and Salvador Perez is hitting .324 over the same span. Witt Jr. is also on a 5-game hitting streak.
Astros Look to Extend Home Dominance Against Royals: Yordan Alvarez and Hunter Brown Key to Victory
The Astros are 71-62 this season and are 3.5 games ahead of the Mariners in the AL West. They are 35-29 at home and will face the Royals today. Houston is 23-18-2 in series this year and are 4-6 in their last 10 games, putting them 3.5 games behind the Yankees for the second Wild Card spot. The over/under line for Astros home games is set at 8 runs, with their games averaging 8.5 runs. Their over/under record for the season is 52-76, and their average line is 9 runs. When the line is set at 8 runs, they are 10-13-2. Houston is 68-65 against the run line this season, with a +0.6 run differential.
Yordan Alvarez is hitting .311 with 28 home runs this season and is hitting .500 with 3 home runs in his last 3 games. Ben Gamel is on a 5-game hitting streak and is hitting .400 over his last 6 games. Hunter Brown will start for the Astros and is 11-7 with a 3.72 ERA. He has 15 quality starts and is averaging 9.68 strikeouts per nine innings. Brown has an ERA of 11.89 on the road compared to 3.55 at home. The Astros are 12th in runs per game at 4.6 and have the 2nd best batting average in the league at .261.
Royals Primed for Upset: Bet on Kansas City with a +129 Payout
Our pick for this game is to take the Royals on the money line, with the payout sitting at +129. We actually have the Royals winning this one by a score of 5-4, giving you a few different ways you could play this one.
Looking at the starting pitchers, we do have Hunter Brown with more strikeouts than Brady Singer, but we still have Brown finishing with just six K’s. As for Singer, we have him finishing with five strikeouts.
