Athletics vs. Royals Prediction
Will the Oakland Athletics be able to get themselves on track when they go on the road to open a series with the Kansas City Royals at 8:15PM ET?
Game Snapshot & Odds
923 Oakland Athletics at 924 Kansas City Royals
Friday, June 1, 2018
8:15PM ET – Kauffman Stadium
TV: FSKC (KC); NSCA (Oak)
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Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers, the Athletics are favored on the road, as they are getting odds of -125 to win. The Royals are listed with a money line of +105 to prevail, while the over/under total has been set at 9.5 runs. The public betting for this game currently has 75 percent of the wagers going on Oakland on the road. This information is subject to change, however, so be sure to check out our MLB Public Betting Page for updated figures on the game.
Athletics seeking consistency
The Athletics are coming off a 7-3 win over the Rays on Thursday, but they won just one of four games at home in the series. Oakland is just 4-6 in its last 10 games. The Athletics are now 29-28 overall and 14-13 on the road. Oakland is putting up 4.28 runs per game this season while allowing 4.40 per contest.
Frankie Montas gets the start for the Athletics on Friday. Montas has made just one start this season, which came on May 27 against the Diamondbacks. He went six innings and allowed just three hits and one run in a 2-1 win. He had seven strikeouts with two walks.
Royals in a positive stretch
Kansas City is coming off back-to-back wins over Minnesota at home coming into this weekend. The Royals have also won three of their last four and six of their last nine. KC is now 20-36 overall and 9-19 at home. The Royals are scoring 4.11 runs per game this season while allowing 5.52 per contest.
Ian Kennedy gets the start for the Royals on Friday. He is 1-5 through 11 starts with a 5.15 ERA and 1.54 WHIP. Kennedy has pitched a total of 57.2 innings so far and has 54 strikeouts with 20 walks.
MLB Betting Trends
Oakland
The Athletics have won four straight road games and nine of their last 12 against a right-handed starter.
Kansas City
The Royals are 2-8 in their last 10 games following a day off and 4-15 in their last 19 home games against a right-handed starter.
Prediction:
The Athletics aren’t playing really well right now, but I like Montas on the mound against a poor Kansas City hitting team. The Royals are answering with Kennedy, who clearly hasn’t done a great job of keeping runs from scoring. I like Oakland to continue to play well on the road.
The Pick: Oakland Athletics -125