Royals vs. Yankees Prediction
Will both offenses struggle again today in the Bronx when the Yankees host the Royals at 1:05PM ET?
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetDSI, the Yankees are -185 money line favorites to beat the Royals, who have odds of +160 to pull off the upset in the Bronx. With Miguel Almonte set to face Masahiro Tanaka in the pitching matchup, the over/under currently sits at 8.5 runs.
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Almonte will make his first major league start on Thursday at Yankee Stadium. He’s filling in for Nate Karns, who landed on the disabled list Wednesday with a right elbow injury. Almonte, 24, owns an impressive 1.86 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and 35/6 K/BB ratio over 29 innings this season with Double-A Northwest Arkansas. But the Yankees’ offense presents a different kind of challenge. (Rotoworld)
Tanaka’s struggles continued on Saturday as he coughed up six runs in three-plus innings to take a loss to the Rays. He gave up nine hits in the brief outing and three of them left the yard. His biggest nemesis was Corey Dickerson, who launched two home runs. Tanaka walked three and struck out four batters in the loss. This bad start comes on the heels of allowing eight runs in just 1 2/3 innings in his previous start. He is fortunate to have a winning 5-3 record considering he has a 6.56 ERA through nine starts. He has allowed a whopping 13 home runs in 48 innings.
Bet Today’s Royals vs. Yankees Game
OUR PREDICTION: Neither of these teams is hitting right now but you have a pitcher making his debut in a hitter-friendly ball park and a veteran in Tanaka who has been hot garbage since the start of the season. What to do? I trust the Yankees will score but I’m not sure about the Royals. The under is 25-12 in their last 37 games overall. Plus, the under is 4-1 in the last five meetings between these two teams and 4-1 in the Yankees’ last five games against the American League Central. The under has been hot in this series, so I’m betting Tanaka finally has a decent outing.
THURSDAY MLB PREDICTION: ROYALS/YANKEES UNDER 8.5