Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA
Kansas City Royals vs Los Angeles Dodgers: Both teams have split the last 10 games
The Los Angeles Dodgers are hosting the Kansas City Royals at Dodger Stadium on Friday to start the three-game series.
The Royals are stating a long West Coast road trip
The Kansas City Royals are second in the AL Central with a 40-30 record. They are coming off a 4-3 win over the New York Yankees to avoid being swept in that series. Kansas City has a 3.83 ERA, a .240 batting average, a .311 on-base percentage, and 1.27 walks plus hits per inning pitched. Bobby Witt Jr. is the best player on the team with 93 hits, 59 runs and 11 home runs.
The Dodgers need to bounce back
The Los Angeles Dodgers are on top of the NL West with a 42-28 record. After beating the Texas Rangers 15-2 in the series opener, they lost the next two, scoring only three runs in total. The Dodgers have a 3.26 ERA, a .216 batting average, a .286 on-base percentage, and 1.13 walks plus hits per inning pitched. Mookie Betts leads the team with 84 hits, and Shohei Ohtani has 51 runs and 17 home runs.
Betting Trends
The Dodgers have won 5 of the last 6 games against the Royals and 13 of the last 19 games against teams from the AL. They have played under the total run line in 6 of their last 7 home games and in 4 of the last 5 games against teams from the AL Central, while have gone over in 5 of their last 6 games against Kansas City. The Royals have lost 4 of the last 5 games overall, 5 of the last 7 games on the road and 8 of the last 11 games against the Dodgers. They have played over the total run line in 5 of their last 7 games overall, 4 of their last 5 games against teams from the NL and 5 of the last 6 games against teams from the NL West.
Prediction and Conclusion
Both the Royals and the Dodgers have a great season so far, and it will be interesting to see how this series goes. The Royals turned things around in the ninth inning yesterday against the Yankees, so they are going to LA in a good mood. That is not the case with the Dodgers, who lost the last two to the Rangers and will need to step up tonight. Gavin Stone will be on the mound for the Dodgers, and he has had a solid season. The 25-year-old is 7-2 for the season with a 2.93 ERA, 53 K, 67.2 IP, and 1.24 WHIP. On the other side, the Royals will start with Cole Ragans, who is 4-4 for the season with a 3.08 ERA, 98 K, 79 IP, and 1.15 WHIP. The Royals won three of the last four against the Dodgers and are visiting the Dodgers for the first time since 2017. They will lack motive tonight and will cover the +1.5-run spread.
