A year ago, the Kansas City Royals won an emotionally-charged Wild Card game against the Oakland Athletics. This time around, they watched their upcoming opponents, the Houston Astros, win the Wild Card game themselves to earn a shot at the American League’s best team. It’s going to be a fun Division Series between two young teams looking to cement themselves as true World Series contenders, indeed.
The MLB postseason is in full swing; checkout the complete previews for the series openers of Rangers vs. Blue Jays and the National League’s Cubs vs. Cardinals.
[sc:MLBArticles ]
Houston Astros vs. Kansas City Royals Preview
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
When: Thursday, October 9, 7:37 PM ET
Line: Houston Astros (+127) at Kansas City Royals (-137); total 7.5 – view all MLB lines
Betting on the Houston Astros
Colby Rasmus and Carlos Gomez each hit solo home runs against the New York Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka, and Jose Altuve added another run for good measure as the Houston Astros won the AL Wild Card game 3-0 on the road against the Bronx Bombers.
[sc:MLB240banner ]The Astros will be full of energy and momentum entering the first game of their American League Division Series against the Kansas City Royals. But the Wild Card game’s key contributors haven’t fared too well against the Royals’ Yordano Ventura. Rasmus is just 1 of 5 in his career against the Royals starter, while Altuve is 1 of 7. Meanwhile, Gomez has yet to face the Kansas City ace.
While the Astros are just two homers short of Toronto’s majors-leading 232 home runs, they’ve yet to get one out of the park against Ventura. But Houston has a pretty solid pitcher to counter Ventura in Collin McHugh (19-7, 3.89 ERA). McHugh has limited Kansas City batters to hit just .214 at the plate. He’s even held two of the Royals’ hardest hitters in Kendrys Morales (22 homers) and Salvador Perez (21) to hit just a combined 1 of 8 in his career.
The Astros have won five of their last seven on the road.
Betting on the Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals were just a Wild Card team last year, but they’re the best team in the American League now as they aim for another World Series berth. The Royals put ace Yordano Ventura (13-8, 4.08 ERA) on the mound to start off this series. Ventura has been pretty solid against the Astros, allowing his opponents to hit just .222 against him.
Ventura could jack up his strikeouts in this game, though. The Astros love to keep swinging the bat by knocking out a lot of home runs, but are also prone to plenty more strikeouts. Houston finished with the most strikeouts in the American League in the regular season (1,442).
The Royals could have an excellent day at the plate if they can carry over their regular season success. They ranked second in the AL in batting average (.263) and third in hits (1,456). Lorenzo Cain has been their most consistent bat at the plate, hitting a team high .307 in the regular season. Meanwhile, Kendrys Morales and Mike Moustakas lent their power with team-highs of 22 homers apiece.
The Royals should fancy their chances against Houston’s McHugh, who was inconsistent on the road to end the regular season. McHugh went 3-3 with a 4.20 ERA in his last seven road starts, with the Astros losing four of those games.
Kansas City, on the other hand, has won four of Ventura’s last five home starts.
Writer’s Prediction
Ventura continues to play well at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals (-137) take Game 1 after a solid performance from their ace. Create a betting account now and win big on the heated MLB postseason.
