Royals vs. Athletics Prediction
Will the Oakland Athletics get back to be a winning team when they play host to the Kansas City Royals tonight at 10:05PM ET?
Game Snapshot & Odds
919 Kansas City Royals at 920 Oakland Athletics
Thursday, June 7, 2018
10:05PM ET – Angel Stadium
TV: FSKC (KC); NSCA (Oak)
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Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers, the Athletics are favored at home, as they are getting odds of -150 to win. The Royals are listed with a money line of +140 on the road, while the over/under total has been set at 8.5 runs. The public betting for this game has 77 percent going on Oakland at home. This information is subject to change, however, so be sure to check out our MLB Public Betting Page for updated figures on the game.
Royals on a skid
The Royals have dropped four straight coming into tonight’s game, including three straight out West. Kansas City is now 21-41 overall and 11-20 on the road. The Royals are now averaging 3.95 runs per game this season while allowing 5.61 per contest.
Jason Hammel gets the start for the Royals this evening. He has started 12 games this season and has a 2-5 record with a 5.17 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. Hammel has pitched a total of 71.1 innings and has 46 strikeouts with 20 walks.
Athletics falling back
The Athletics have lost two straight and six of their last nine to fall to the .500 mark. Oakland is now 31-31 overall and 15-15 at home. The Athletics are putting up 4.44 runs per game this season while giving up 4.39 per contest.
Phil Blackburn gets the start for the Athletics on Thursday. He is making his 2018 season debut. Last year he started 10 games for the Athletics and had a 3-1 record with a 3.22 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Blackburn recorded 22 strikeouts and 16 walks over 58.2 innings of work.
MLB Betting Trends
Kansas City
The Royals are 3-9 in their last 12 Thursday games and 1-5 in their las six road games. They have also lost four straight against AL West opponents.
Oakland
The Athletics are 7-1 in their last eight games after allowing 5 runs or more in their previous games. They are also 12-5 in their last 17 home games against a right-handed starter.
Prediction:
Blackburn is a bit of a question mark, but he looked pretty respectable when he pitched last year. I don’t expect him to go very deep into this game, but the Oakland bullpen is much stronger than Kansas City bullpen. I don’t see the Royals getting a great start from Hammel and I look for Kansas City to grind out a victory.
The Pick: Oakland Athletics -150