Blue Jays vs. Royals Pick
Can the Kansas City Royals complete a sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays when the two complete their series today at 2:15PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, Toronto is favored on the road, as the Blue Jays are getting odds of -115 to win. The Royals are getting odds of -105 to win, while the over/under total for the game has been set at 9.5 runs.
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The pitching matchup for this game has Jason Hammel (4-6, 4.83 ERA) on the mound for the Royals to face Francisco Liriano (3-3, 5.76) of the Jays. Liriano has been struggling, allowing five runs over 4.2 innings in his last start. He has 52 strikeouts with 30 walks over 50 innings of work this year. His WHIP is 1.66. Hammel has been strong over recent starts, allowing just four earned runs over his last 20.2 innings. On the year he has 59 strikeouts with 24 walks and a 1.43 WHIP.
The Royals have won the first two games in this series and have won four straight meetings with Toronto. KC has now won three straight overall as well. The Royals are 37-36 overall and 21-17 at home while Toronto is 35-39 overall and 16-22 on the road.
KC only had five hits, but manufactured the three runs. Toronto had nine hits, but could only bring in two on Saturday. Jason Vargas had another great start, going seven innings while allowing just two runs. He is now 11-3 on the year. Marco Estrada also went seven innings, but allowed the three runs to take his fourth loss. Eric Hosmer had a solo home run in the win while Kelvim Escobar had a triple. Toronto got its two runs on a pair of solo home runs from Troy Tulowitzki and Kevin Pillar.
Oddsmakers really don’t like the Royals much this series. Toronto has been favored in all three games despite Kansas City’s string of great play. The oddsmakers are also ignoring just how strong Hammel has been on the mound over the last two weeks as well. Liriano isn’t going to shutdown this KC lineup, or any lineup for that matter. The Royals are playing with momentum and should continue to find ways to score. I think Hammel will continue to pitch well as well and earn another win.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: KANSAS CITY ROYALS -105