The playoff race is coming down to the wire and we’re looking at the Royals hosting the Giants on a Friday night.
Date: Friday 09/20
Time: 8:10 PM ET
Location: Kaufman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Game Time Weather:
Giants Preview
The Giants continue a 9-game road trip tonight with the first game in a three game series against the Royals.
San Francisco is 74 - 79 on the season and are officially eliminated from the playoffs for the 2024 season. They are 4 - 6 in their last 10 games and are 27 - 29 since the All-Star break with a 33 - 42 road record and a 56 - 54 record against right hand pitching.
The Giants are 21st in batting average (.238), 20th in hits (1227), slugging percentage (.392) and OPS (.698). San Francisco is 19th in pitching ERA (4.15), 22nd in OBA (.247), a surprising 7th in K’s (1357) and 21st in walks allowed (489).
San Francisco will start right hander Mason Black who is 0 - 4 in 6 starts with a 7.07 ERA, 24 strikeouts and a 1.64 WHIP. Black took the loss in his last outing last week against the Padres throwing 79 pitches in 4 innings while giving up 2 earned runs on 6 hits with a walk and 2 K’s.
Some other trends:
They are 2 - 5 straight up in their last 7 games
They are 3 - 6 straight up in their last 9 games against the Royals
They are 3 - 8 straight up in their last 11 games in Kansas City
They are 5 - 2 straight up in their last 7 games against the AL Central
Royals Preview
Kansas City finds themselves fighting for a playoff spot and are not doing themselves any favors by losing 4 of their last 5.
The Royals are 4 - 6 in their last 10 games and 82 - 71 on the season and sit in 2nd place in the AL Central 6.5 games back of the Guardians. They are 30 - 26 since the All-Star break and have played well at home going 45 - 33. They are also 69 - 52 against right hand pitching.
Kansas City is 7th in the league in batting average (.252), 9th in hits (1296), 12th in slugging percentage (.414) and OPS (.723). Royals pitching is 11th in ERA (3.85), 20th in OBA (.245), 22nd in strikeouts (1261) and 12th in walks allowed (450).
The Royals will send out right hander Michael Wacha who is 13 - 7 in 27 starts this season with a 3.29 ERA, 138 strikeouts and a 1.19 WHIP. Wacha is 7 - 2 in home starts with a 2.87 home ERA and 63 K’s. He got the win in his last start last week against the Pirates going 5 innings with 1 earned run on 4 hits with 8 K’s and 3 walks.
Some other trends:
They are 1 - 4 straight up in their last 5 games
They are 8 - 3 straight up in their last 11 games at home vs the Giants
They are 2 - 5 straight up in their last 7 games against NL West opponents
Final Thoughts
The Giants have nothing to play for but pride and stats and will not go easily into that dark night while the Royals have everything to play for, yet have lost their last 4 games by a combined 6 runs.
What the Royals do have going for them is a little known trend that says teams who have lost their last four games, but have been getting good pitching that has only allowed 6 or fewer runs per game during that slide, have gone 182 - 177 for a 9.7% ROI and are +34.89 units (Steve Makinen, VSiN).
Let’s face it, the Royals are down to the wire. Continue to win and you should be in or have a continued let down and find yourself at home raking leaves.
The money is heavily on the favored Royals today with a 92% bet split and the line has moved from -175 to a current -192 (DK).
My Pick: Kansas City Royals ML -184
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