Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Kansas City Royals Prediction, Picks and Preview – July 20, 2015

The Kansas City Royals (55-35) moved six games clear at the top of the AL Central standings with a thrilling victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. The Royals will look to stretch that advantage even further when they take on the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates (53-38) in the opening game of their three-game set tonight.

Who will emerge victorious in this interleague matchup? Read on below for a breakdown of this much-anticipated ballgame and while you’re at it you can check out our MLB previews of Seattle vs. Detroit and Boston vs. Los Angeles.
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Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Kansas City Royals Preview

Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

When: Monday, July 20, 8:10 PM ET

Line: Pittsburgh Pirates (+127) at Kansas City Royals (-137); total: 7.5 – view all MLB lines

Betting on the Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh’s losing woes continued on Sunday as it suffered a disappointing 6-1 defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Bucs had no answer for Brewers starter Taylor Jungmann who gave up just one run on five hits in seven innings of action. The Pirates are now 0-3 to start the second half of the season.

[sc:MLB240banner ]The Pirates will look to return to winning ways tonight when they take on the Kansas City Royals in Game 1 of their three-game series. The Bucs will fancy their chances of doing just that as they have A.J. Burnett (7-3, 2.11 ERA) on the mound this evening.

Pittsburgh is a perfect 3-0 in Burnett’s last three starts. The veteran has been excellent in his last seven appearances, posting an ERA of 1.99. Unfortunately for Burnett, he’s received just one run of support or fewer in five of those outings.

Burnett will be licking his chops at the prospect of facing the Royals as he has fared extremely well against them in his career. He has an ERA of 2.69 in 11 career starts against Kansas City. The right-hander is 3-1 with a 1.83 ERA in his last six outings against the Royals.

Burnett can’t do it all alone, though, and he needs Pittsburgh’s offense to pick up the scoring slack as well. The onus is on star outfielder Andrew McCutchen to carry the offensive weight for the struggling Pirates. He leads the team in hits (93), RBIs (56), walks (49) and on-base percentage (.394) this season.

The Bucs are 4-6 in their last 10 road games.

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Betting on the Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals extended their winning streak to two games with a 4-1 road victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. Danny Duffy took a shutout into the ninth inning while Lorenzo Cain and Paulo Orlando both homered as Kansas City moved a season-high 20 games above .500. This is the first time since 1989 that the Royals have managed to reach this mark.

The Royals will look to stretch their unbeaten run tonight when they take on the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates in the opening game of their three-game set. Starting for the Royals tonight is Yordano Ventura (4-6, 4.73 ERA). The right-hander has totaled just 11 innings in his last three starts.

Ventura earned his first victory in nearly two months, however, in his last start, giving up three runs in five innings with eight runs of support. It was Ventura’s first appearance in nearly a month after going to the disabled list with an elbow injury.

Given Ventura’s recent struggles, the onus is on the Kansas City hitters to remain aggressive at the plate tonight. The Royals had a total of 30 hits in their last two games against the White Sox.

Expected to lead the Royals’ offense tonight against the Pirates are Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar. Cain has homered in consecutive games while batting .473 with four homers and 12 RBIs in his last 14 outings. Escobar, on the other hand, is batting .397 in his last 14 games for Kansas City.

The Royals are 8-2 in their last 10 home games.

Writer’s Prediction

Pittsburgh (+127) snaps its three-game losing skid with a narrow 4-2 victory over Kansas City.
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