Kansas City and Houston wrap up their seven-game regular-season series with a four-game set finale at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, so we bring you the best Royals vs. Astros betting pick and odds. 

According to BetDSI Sportsbook, the Astros are massive moneyline favorites to emerge victorious Thursday in front of the home fans. They’ll go with Justin Verlander, while the Royals will send Kris Bubic to the mound.  

The Royals’ awful season goes on                                         

The third contest of this series has been excluded from the analysis, and the 29-50 Kansas City Royals were looking to avoid their third straight defeat. After blowing a five-run lead in a 7-6 defeat at Minute Maid Park this past Monday, the Crowns suffered a 9-7 loss on Tuesday night. 

Kansas City has gone 4-8 in its previous 12 games overall, scoring 48 runs on a .242/.317/.408 slash line. On the other side of the ball, the Royals have registered a pedestrian 4.97 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, and .273 opposing batting average. 

Kris Bubic will meet the Astros for the second time this season. Back on June 4, the 24-year-old southpaw threw five scoreless innings in a no-decision against Houston in what was his best outing of the season by far. Bubic has been pretty much awful thus far, posting a 1-5 record with a bloated 7.06 ERA and 1.87 WHIP in 11 starts and one relief appearance (43.1 innings) in 2022. 

The sizzling Astros continue to dominate             

The Houston Astros extended their winning streak to eight games following Tuesday’s 9-7 victory over the Royals. Luis Garcia had a bad day in the office and yielded five earned runs across 6.1 innings, but his teammates nailed 13 hits and went yard four times. 

After hitting a walk-off home run in Monday’s opener, Yordan Alvarez went 2-for-4 with a solo homer and a couple of runs scored last Tuesday. Over their last 13 outings, the Astros have clobbered a thumping 28 no-doubters while slashing .257/.334/.500 across 436 at-bats. 

Justin Verlander meets the Royals for the first time this season. The 39-year-old righty is 23-10 with a 3.20 ERA in 45 career starts against Kansas City. Verlander holds a 10-3 record, 2.03 ERA, and 0.83 WHIP in 15 starts (97.1 frames) in 2022 and will look for his third consecutive win this Thursday. 

Trends:

Kansas City: 

  • 3-7 in the last ten games overall 
  • 1-6 in the last seven games against the AL West 

Houston:

  • 16-3 in the last 19 games overall 
  • 5-1 in Justin Verlander’s last six starts 

Kansas City Royals vs. Houston Astros Pick 

Only a couple of guys from this Kansas City team have seen Justin Verlander before. Whit Merrifield and Andrew Benintendi have combined for six hits in 33 at-bats against the Astros’ ace. I’m expecting another dominant display from Verlander, so give me the Astros to beat the runline. 

Houston’s lineup will be glad to see Kris Bubic once more. Bubic scattered 55 hits across 43.1 innings of work in 2022 and nine of those came against the Astros, who own the highest OPS in the majors in the last 15 days. 

Pick: Take Houston Astros -1.5 at -154                                       

The Total:

The first two games of this series have flown over the total, producing 29 runs in total. I’m not sure about Thursday’s closer because Justin Verlander could easily shut down the Royals and the Astros’ bullpen have a strong 2.63 ERA in the last ten days and 24 innings of work. 

On the other hand, the Royals’ bullpen has tossed 30 frames in the last ten days, posting a 5.10 ERA and 5.48 FIP. The Astros are swinging a hot bat and could score a lot on their own, so I lean toward the over, but Houston to cover remains my best Royals vs. Astros pick. 

Pick: Go over 8.0 at -115