Royals vs. Twins Pick
After an extra-innings battle on Friday, can the Minnesota Twins find a way to pick up another win over the Kansas City Royals when the two meet up this afternoon at 2:10PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, this game is considered even, as both the Twins and the Royals are listed with odds of -110 to prevail. The over/under total for the contest is set at 9 runs.
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The pitching matchup for this game has Ian Kennedy (0-3, 3.03 ERA) on the mound for the Royals to face Adam Wilk (0-0, 5.40) of the Twins. Wilk hasn’t had much time on the mound and has just one appearance with the Twins. He went 3.1 innings last week against the Indians, allowing two earned runs with three hits, two walks and two strikeouts. Kennedy has had some good outings, but has had limited run support, which is the case for most Royals’ starters. He has 31 strikeouts in 35.2 innings along with 15 walks and a WHIP of 1.07.
Minnesota grabbed a 4-3 win in 10 innings on Friday to open this weekend series. The Twins have now won all six meetings with the Royals this season. Minnesota comes into today’s game 21-17 overall and 10-12 at home while Kansas City is 17-24 overall and 5-13 on the road.
The Twins found themselves down 3-0 to the Royals in Friday’s game and 3-1 entering the bottom of the ninth. However, Kennys Vargas had a two-run, pinch-hit, home run in the ninth to force extra innings. Jorge Polanco then had a sacrifice fly in the 10th to score Joe Mauer and get the Twins a win. Kelvin Herrera blew the save in the ninth inning and Al Alburquerque took the loss in the 10th. The Minnesota bullpen pitched five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits with no walks. Brandon Kintzler ended up with the win.
Kennedy has given the Royals opportunities to win and they haven’t helped him. Today could be the day. Minnesota has a very unproven Wilk on the mound and eating innings hasn’t been his thing. After going 10 innings and using four relievers, the bullpen should be thin. Kennedy will have the ability to go deeper into the game and rest some of the KC arms. With the Twins thin on the mound, the Royals should finally produce some runs and get Kennedy a victory.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: KANSAS CITY ROYALS -110