Royals vs. White Sox Pick
Will the Chicago White Sox be able to continue an improbable win streak when they take on the Kansas City Royals tonight at 8:10PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Kansas City is favored on the road, as the Royals are getting odds of -135 to win, while the White Sox are listed with a money line of +125 to prevail. The over/under total for the contest has been set at 9 runs. The Royals have won the last three between these two, but the home team has won 8 of the last 10 meetings.
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Tonight’s pitching matchup features Danny Duffy (7-7, 3.48 ERA) on the mound for the Royals to face Reynaldo Lopez of the White Sox. Duffy is coming off a rough outing where he gave up 7 runs in 5.2 innings to the Mariners. This year, Duffy has 93 strikeouts with 31 walks and a 1.28 WHIP. Lopez is making his first start and appearance of the season. He has pitched in 11 games in his MLB career and has a 4.91 ERA and 1.57 WHIP over his career.
The Royals are a mess right now, losing four straight to the Cardinals and six of their last seven overall. KC is now 57-57 overall and 32-27 at home. The Royals are averaging 4.37 runs per game on offense while allowing 4.60 on defense. KC is being led by Mike Moustakas, who has 32 home runs with 73 RBI. Salvador Perez has added 21 home runs and 65 RBI, but he is sidelined with a rib injury right now.
Chicago is coming off a very improbable three-game sweep of the Astros at home this week. The White Sox are now 44-68 overall and 20-39 on the road. The Sox are putting up 4.31 runs per game this season while allowing 4.99 per contest. Jose Abreu has been leading Chicago with 31 doubles, 19 home runs and 68 RBI. Avisail Garcia is adding 13 homers and 55 RBI.
The Sox are surprisingly hot while the Royals are cold. Kansas City has really taken a step back without Perez in the lineup, both in hitting and pitching. The pitching got hammered in the series against St. Louis and I don’t think it will improve a great deal tonight. Duffy is coming off a poor outing and without Perez, may not get better. Chicago has a little momentum and I think its hitting will carry them tonight. Lopez may manage a quality start against this struggling KC lineup as well.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: CHICAGO WHITE SOX +125