Kansas City Royals vs Houston Astros Betting Pick & Prediction 8/29/24
Thursday’s matchup between the Royals and Astros is set to get started at 8:10 PM ET from Minute Maid Park in Houston. The Astros are the favorites on the money line, with their odds sitting at -153, while the Royals have a money line payout of +129. The over/under line is currently at 8 runs.
Brady Singer will start for the Royals, and he is facing off against Hunter Brown for the Astros. Kansas City is 75-59 this season, and they are 2nd in the AL Central, while the Astros are 1st in the AL West with a record of 71-62.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS VS HOUSTON ASTROS BETTING PICK
The Pick: Kansas City Royals Moneyline +129
This game will be played at Minute Maid Park at 8:10 ET on Thursday, August 29th.
HOW TO BET THE ROYALS VS ASTROS:
- We have the Royals winning by a score of 5 to 4
- If you’re looking for a run line pick, we also like the Royals to cover
- As for an over/under pick, we have this game finishing with 9 runs and like the over
Royals Records & Stats
Vinnie Pasquantino had a big game at the plate for the Royals in their 7-5 loss to the Guardians. Pasquantino went 4/5 with a homer and a run scored. The Royals really wasted a big game from Pasquantino, as they scored just two runs in thejson 6th inning. Looking at the betting lines going into the game, the Royals were at +131.
Michael Wacha got the start for the Athletics, going six innings and giving up five runs on nine hits. He only had one strikeout in the outing and took the loss.
Kansas City is 75-59 overall this season, and they are just one game behind the Guardians for the AL Central lead. The Royals host the Astros today and are 29-14 against other teams in the AL Central. The Royals closed out their series vs. the Guardians with a win and took the series 3-1.
So far, the Royals have been good at home, going 41-28. They have been just above .500 on the road, coming in with a record of 34-31. As the favorite, the Royals are 43-25 this season and 32-34 as the underdog. Kansas City’s overall series record is 20-21-2, and they have won two straight series on the road.
The Royals have been a good bet on the run line this season, going 75-59. They have been even better on the road, where they are 36-29 against the run line. Kansas City has been a better bet as the underdog, going 40-26 against the run line, compared to 35-33 as the favorite. The Royals have an average run margin of 0.8 runs per game this season.
The Kansas City Royals are on the road today against the Houston Astros. The over/under line for the game is set at 8 runs, which is lower than their season average of 9.0 runs per game. The Royals have a record of 13-11-2 when the over/under line is set at 8 runs this season. The majority of their games have had higher over/under lines, with 64.2% of their games having lines set over 8 runs.
Brady Singer will be looking to bounce back from a rough outing vs. the Phillies, as he gets the start for the Royals today. In that outing, which came on August 24th, Singer took the loss after giving up five earned runs in five innings of work. Looking back further, he has allowed at least four earned runs in three of his last four starts. Singer’s ERA for the season is 3.38, along with a record of 9-9. The right-hander has made 26 starts, and his WHIP for the season is 1.25. Opponents are batting .250 off Singer this year.
Heading into today’s game, the Royals are 5th in the league in scoring at 4.9 runs per game. This is a team that has been even better at home, averaging 5.2 runs per game. Overall, they are one of the top power-hitting teams in the league, as they are 13th in home runs and have the 4th best team batting average in the league.
Salvador Perez and Bobby Witt Jr. have been two of the league’s best power hitters this season, with Perez’s 25 homers ranking 12th in the league and Witt Jr.’s 28 homers being 9th best. Witt Jr. has been especially hot of late, going 8/28 with three homers over his last seven games. Witt Jr. is also on a five-game hitting streak.
Astros Records & Stats
The Astros’s offense was hot right out of the gates in their most recent game vs. the Phillies, closing out their series with a 10-0 win. Houston was the slight favorite at -124 on the money line going into the game. It was a five-run 4th inning that really turned things in their favor, and the Phillies could only score two runs the entire 8th.
Spencer Arrighetti put together a good start for the Astros, going 7 2/3 innings, and didn’t give up a run. He also issued just four hits and struck out 11 Phillies batters. Offensively, the Astros were carried by Yordan Alvarez, who went 4/4 with three homers and four RBIs.
Houston opens their series vs. the Royals with a record of 71-62, which has them leading the AL West by 3.5 games over the Mariners. The Astros lost two of three in their series vs. the Phillies. So far, they are 21-18 in divisional games.
At home, the Astros are 35-29 this season and have gone 36-33 on the road. As the favorite, the Astros are 53-43 and 18-19 as the underdog. Currently, they have dropped two straight at home, with both of those games coming as the favorite.
When the Astros win, they tend to win big, with an average run margin of 3.8. However, they have lost three straight against the run line at home, where they are 29-35 overall. On the road, they are 39-30 against the run line, with an average run margin of 0.3.
The Astros have played in 81 games with over/under lines set at 8 or higher this season, the highest percentage of any team in the league. Their games have averaged 8.5 runs per game, and their over/under record for the season is 52-76. When the line has been set at 8 runs, their record is 10-13-2.
Hunter Brown is looking to build off his last outing, where he finished with a no-decision. Against the Orioles, he went six innings, giving up two earned runs, and one of them was a homer. Looking back further, Brown had picked up the win in two straight outings before that. His record for the season is 11-7, and he has an ERA of 3.72. Opposing batters are hitting .240 this season off Brown. The right-hander has made 25 starts, 15 of which were quality starts. Brown’s ERA on the road is 11.89, compared to 3.55 at home.
Yordan Alvarez is not only leading the Astros in home runs this season, but he is also 9th in the league in homers. Alvarez’s 71 RBIs are good for 2nd on the team, and he comes into the game on a five-game hitting streak, during which he has gone 6/12 with three homers. Over his last five games, Ben Gamel is hitting .444, but he has yet to homer in that stretch.
As a team, the Astros are 2nd in the league in batting average and are averaging 4.6 runs per game. They have been even better at home, averaging 4.7 runs per contest. Overall, they are 10th in the league in home runs and have the 8th best slugging percentage in the league.