Things are going from bad to worse for the Kansas City Royals as they dropped their third consecutive game Tuesday with a gut-wrenching loss to the New York Yankees. The Royals will look to get their season back on track when they take on the Yankees in Game 3 of their four-game series tonight.
Read on below for a breakdown of this American League matchup and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the game between the San Diego Padres and the Chicago Cubs.
Kansas City’s losing woes show no sign of abating as the Royals suffered a tough 10-7 defeat to the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. It was another disappointing defeat for the reigning world champions who have now lost 11 of their last 14 games. With the loss, Kansas City dropped to two games under .500.
With the Royals struggling mightily right now, the pressure is on Yordano Ventura (2-2, 4.65 ERA) to deliver a solid start for Kansas City tonight. The problem for the Royals is that Ventura has also gone off the rails of late. He has allowed five earned runs in each of his last two starts. In those two outings, Ventura has given up a whopping 11 walks in just eight innings of action.
With Ventura still a big question mark at this point, the onus is on the Kansas City hitters to provide some much-needed runs tonight. Expected to lead the Royals’ offense in this game against the Yankees is Lorenzo Cain. He went on a tear in last night’s showdown with the Yankees, nabbing his first career three-homer game. Cain is just 1-of-9, though, lifetime against New York’s scheduled starter Michael Pineda with two RBIs.
The Royals are 2-8 in their last 10 road games. They are priced at +1,600to win the World Series for the second year running.
Betting on the New York Yankees (13-18)
New York stretched its unbeaten run to two games with a 10-7 victory over Kansas City on Tuesday night. Brett Gardner doubled home the tiebreaking run off Kelvin Herrera in the eighth inning to lift the Yankees to their fourth win in their last five games.
The Yankees will look to keep the winning streak going later tonight when they take on the Royals in the third game of their four-game set. Starting for the Yankees in this ballgame is Michael Pineda (1-3, 5.73 ERA). He was solid in his last outing against the Boston Red Sox, allowing just two runs on eight hits in six innings of work. The Yankees eventually won that contest, 3-2. It was a huge bounce-back performance by Pineda who had lost his previous two starts.
Only David Ortiz’s two-run homer tarnished Pineda’s stellar start on Friday. Pineda has struggled with the long ball this season, allowing eight homers in his six starts this campaign. All of those home runs have come at Yankee Stadium. Opponents are hitting .307 with a .946 OPS off the right-hander this season.
The good news for Pineda is that the Yankees are showing signs that they are waking up from their offensive slumber. They have scored a total of 24 runs in their last three wins. Expected to lead New York’s offense in this game against the Royals is Brian McCann. He currently has a four-game hitting streak, batting .375 with four RBIs since May 6. He went 3-of-5 against the Royals last night, recording a double and two RBIs. McCann leads the Yankees in on-base percentage (.375) this season.
The Yankees are 6-2 in their last eight home games. They are pegged at +1,600to win the American League pennant.
