Houston Astros vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, Pick and Preview, July 7 (7/7): MLB

Houston Astros vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, Pick and Preview, July 7 (7/7): MLB

Credit: photo by  Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

 

Odds

Time 2:10 p.m. EST
Royals money line +270
Royals run line +1.5 (+140)
Astros money line -345
Astros run line -1.5 (-165)
Over / under 8

 

Key stats

  Kansas City Royals  Houston Astros
Record 30-50 52-28
Home / home record 16-25 25-12
Last 10 record 4-6 8-2
Streak W1 L1
Over / under record 40-36-4 29-47-5
Runs / game 3.84 4.40
Runs allowed / game 5.13 3.24

 

Preview

The Houston Astros and the Kansas City Royals will play the 4th game of the series at the Minute Maid Park on Thursday. The Royals upset the Astros on Wednesday game to put the series 1-2. Whit Merrifield, Hunter Dozier, and Emmanuel Rivera all hit home runs as the Kansas City Royals beat Houston 7-4.

Kansas City Royals

The Royals get to this game with a 30-50 record and have won 4 of their last 6 games. The team is averaging 3.8 runs per game. They're batting for .239 AVG, 296 runs scored in 620 hits and 63 home runs, ranking #27 in offense in the league behind the Seattle Mariners. Andrew Benitendi is batting for a .308 AVG. and 29 RBI while Salvador Perez has 11 home runs and 34 RBI.

Defensively they are allowing 5.1 runs per game and ranking #25 in the league. Daniel Lynch leads the team with a 4.95 ERA, 65 strikeouts and 3 wins recorded for the Royals.

Probable Pitcher: Kris Bubic (1-5, 7.06 ERA)

Bubic will take the mound in the 4th game of the series for the Royals. Bubic pitched 4.2 innings and had no decision in Saturday's 4-3 defeat to Detroit, surrendering two runs on five hits, three walks, and four strikeouts. He has not allowed any runs on 5 hits with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts in 5 innings versus the Astros in his career.

Houston Astros

The Astros get here with a 53-28 record and have won 8 od their last 9 games. They're averaging 4.4 runs and batting for .235 AVG, 337 runs scored in 592 hits and 101 home runs, ranking #14 in offense in the league behind the Texas Rangers. Yordan Alvarez leads the team batting for .317 avg with 24 home runs and 57 RBI.

Defensively they are allowing 3.2 runs per game and ranking #2 in the league. Justin Verlander leads the pitching staff with a 2.03 ERA, 90 strikeouts and 10 wins recorded for the Astros.

Probable Pitcher:  Justin Verlander (10-3, 2.03 ERA)

Verlander will be on the mound in the 2nd game of the series for the Astros. In his last start, Verlander tossed 8 scoreless innings striking out 6 while allowing 2 hits and 1 walk against the Mets. He earned the win. He has a 23-10 record with an ERA of 3.20 and 272 strikeouts in 45 appearances versus the Royals in his career.

BETTING TRENDS

The total has gone OVER in 4 of Kansas City's last 6 games on the road.

Kansas City are 1-4 SU in their last 5 games when playing on the road against Houston.

The total has gone OVER in 6 of Houston's last 7 games against Kansas City.

Houston Astros are 9-1 SU in their last 10 games at home.

Prediction

The Royals pounded Cristian Javier in the second game of the series as the Royals scored 7 runs to win the game but they'll now have to face Justin Verlander who has been outstanding this season and has allowed only 1 run in his last 15 innings pitched. The Astros were on a hot streak before losing the last game and they'll face Bubic who has been terrible this season but dominated them the last they met holding them to zero runs across 6 innings, that's actually the only game Bubic hasn't allowed any runs. I don't expect that to happen again but with Verlander for the Astros I definitely expect a low scoring game. Take the under. 

PICK: Under 8 (-115)

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