Chris Young (6-2, 1.98 ERA) starts for the Kansas City Royals (39-26) as they square off against Wade Miley (6-6, 4.88 ERA) and the Boston Red Sox (30-40) in the last of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals won the last game 7-4 and the series is currently tied 1-1. Action begins at 2:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, Jun. 21 and can be seen on NESN and FSN-KC.
Young pitched 7.0 innings in his last outing, surrendering zero runs and striking out three in a 7-2 win over the Brewers. Lorenzo Cain (.291, 41 Rs, 6 HRs, 30 RBIs, 14 SBs) had another good game yesterday, going 2 for 3 with one run and three stolen bases. Miley is 1-1 with a 7.71 ERA against the Royals in his career. He takes on a good Kansas City offense that’s batting .274. Hanley Ramirez (.273, 38 Rs, 14 HRs, 36 RBIs, 3 SBs) has been successful at the plate for the Red Sox, going 2 for 4 yesterday with one RBI.
Kansas City is a -131 favorite against Boston and the Over/Under (O/U) for this game is sitting at eight runs. The Royals have recorded an overall money line of +1,009 and have shown high-level performance as a favorite this season with a record of 23-14. Kansas City is an impressive 6-1 as the favorite over its last 10 games. The Royals lead the MLB in batting average with a phenomenal team average of .274. Kansas City strikes out the least of any team in the AL, with only 5.8 per game. Crossing over to the pitching staff, opposing offenses have been stifled by the Royals, who have a team ERA of only 3.40. The Royals are the top team in the AL at limiting hits to their opponents, allowing only 7.9 hits per game so far this season.
In games where it is the underdog, Boston has a 10-13 record and an overall money line of -1,648. They played poorly as the underdog over their last 10 games with a 1-3 record, and a 3-7 record SU. Offensively, the Red Sox have really picked up the pace in the last 10 games. They have exceeded their season average of 3.9 runs per game by averaging 5.1 during that stretch. Boston is excellent at not striking out with just 6.4 per game, ranking second in the AL. The Red Sox allow 4.7 runs per game, but have damaged those numbers in the past 10 games, allowing 6.0 runs per game during that span.
The Royals have a 10-10 record against left-handed starting pitchers on the year, which is what they’ll be facing when Miley takes the mound. Young (RHP) will be on the hill against the Red Sox, who have a 22-28 record against right-handed starting pitchers.
Predictions: SU Winner – KC, O/U – Over
Notes
The Royals are 3-1 in games that go into extra innings. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are 2-2 in such matchups.
The Red Sox are coming off of a weak pitching game where they recorded three strikeouts. The Royals have a record of 14-5 when opponents’ pitchers have that many strikeouts or fewer.
When they outhit their opponents, the Red Sox are 26-5. The Royals have a 34-4 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 19th in runs, Boston has earned 276 this season. Kansas City ranks 12th with 289 runs.
Ranking 30th, Kansas City is at the bottom of the league in walks, notching 137 this season. Boston ranks in the top five at fifth with 223.
When the Royals hit at least one home run, they are 26-12. When the Red Sox hit at least one homer, they have a 22-23 record.
