Chris Young (5-2, 2.25 ERA) gets the ball for the Kansas City Royals (35-25) as they meet Matt Garza (4-7, 4.80 ERA) and the Milwaukee Brewers (24-41) in the second of a two-game series at Miller Park. The Royals won the last game 8-5 and Kansas City leads the series 1-0. The game gets underway at 8:10 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Jun. 16 and will air on FSN-KC and FSN-WI.
Garza has a 3.45 ERA and a 2-5 record in his career against the Royals, and is up against a strong Kansas City offense that’s hitting .267 on the year. Ryan Braun (.261, 35 Rs, 13 HRs, 41 RBIs, 6 SBs) went 1 for 4 yesterday. In his career against the Brewers, Young is 1-1 with a 2.49 ERA. He gets a struggling Milwaukee offense that’s batting just .233. Lorenzo Cain (.287, 38 Rs, 5 HRs, 26 RBIs, 11 SBs) has been doing well, going 2 for 5 yesterday with one run, one home run, and two RBIs.
Milwaukee is a slight -105 underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is seven runs. The Brewers are 18-24 as the underdog and have an overall money line of -1,475. Over the last 10 games, they have had a very good record when playing as the underdog (5-2). Milwaukee has averaged 4.6 runs per game during interleague play, higher than its season average of 3.7. Milwaukee’s pitching staff has put it all together in the past 10 games. Its average runs allowed per game dropped to 3.2 during that span, compared to its 4.7 season average.
Moving on to the opposing team, the Royals come into this game with a win percentage of .594 when playing as the favorite (19-13) and an overall money line of +718. Against interleague opponents, they are 5-4 SU and have played well as the favorite with a 4-1 record. They sport the fourth-ranked offense in the AL, averaging four runs per game. Kansas City is the top road hitting team in the AL with an average of 9.5 hits per contest. The Royals are a problem for opposing batters, sporting a 3.38 ERA this season. They also allow just 7.7 hits per game, good for tops in the AL.
The only other game between the two teams went Kansas City’s way. The Brewers will take on a right-hander (Young) in this game. They have done very poorly against right-handed starting pitchers this season (18-33), especially at home where they have a 9-18 record. The right-handed Garza will take the mound against the Royals, who have a 24-16 record against righty starters this season.
Predictions: SU Winner – KC, O/U – Over
Notes
When the Royals play into extra innings, they have a 3-1 record. The Brewers are 2-2 when their games exceed nine innings.
The Royals managed to give up four walks in their last game. They’ll have to pick it up against the Brewers who are heading in with a 6-7 record against opponents who give up that many walks or more.
When they outhit their opponents, the Brewers are 17-4. The Royals have a 30-4 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 27th, Milwaukee is near the bottom of the league in runs, scoring 239 this season. Kansas City ranks in the bottom half at 16th with 259.
Ranking 30th, Kansas City is at the bottom of the league in walks, notching 125 this season. Milwaukee ranks near the bottom at 26th with 148.
The Brewers are 20-14 in games where they hit one or more home runs. The Royals are 24-11 when they hit at least one homer.
