Royals vs. White Sox Pick
Will the Kansas City Royals salvage a series win over the Chicago White Sox when the two finish off their weekend series at 2:10PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Kansas City is favored on the road as the Royals are getting odds of -150 to win, while the White Sox are getting a money line of +120 to prevail. The over/under total for the contest is listed at 10 runs.
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The pitching matchup today featured Jason Vargas (13-6, 3.40 ERA) on the mound for the Royals to face Derek Holland (6-11, 5.25) of the White Sox. Holland has been struggling for some time, allowing at least three runs in six of his last seven starts. He has 90 strikeouts with 58 walks this season and a 1.58 WHIP. Vargas has been struggling as of late as well, allowing nine runs over his last two starts. Vargas has 95 strikeouts with 37 walks and a 1.27 WHIP.
These two have split the first two games of the series. The White Sox had a 6-3 win on Friday night while the Royals picked up a 5-4 win on Saturday. The Royals are now 58-58 overall and 26-31 on the road. Chicago is 45-69 overall and 25-30 at home.
Saturday’s game saw the Royals post two runs in the eighth inning to get past the White Sox. Melky Cabrera hit a two-run home run against his former team to lead the Royals to the win. Eric Hosmer also homered for the Royals in the win. Jose Abreu hit two home runs for Chicago, giving him 21 home runs for the season. Both starters worked into the seventh inning, but neither factored in the decision. James Shields allowed three runs over six innings while Ian Kennedy gave up three runs over 6.1 innings.
Neither pitcher is feeling too confident right now, but Vargas at least knows he has the stuff capable of shutting a team down. Holland hasn’t really show that much at all this year. Vargas gets to face a Chicago lineup that only has one real dangerous hitter, so if he can avoid Abreu, he should be fine. KC isn’t the best lineup either, but with the addition of Cabrera, they have a little more balance to work with.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: KANSAS CITY ROYALS -150