MLB Pick: Boston Red Sox at Kansas City Royals
Sales and Hammel Set to Battle
The Boston Red Sox (59-29 Overall, 31-17 Away) are heavy favorites when they play the Kansas City Royals (25-61 Overall, 11-32 Home) tonight at 8:15 p.m. E.T. Our Boston plays Kansas City 2018 MLB pick has the Red Sox with the -1.5 run line at -215 and the Royals at +190 (+1.5). The over/under is +103 at over 8 runs and -114 under. The moneyline has the visitors at -335 and the home team at +320. But you always want to remember that there are no sure things when it comes to sports betting.
Going into this game, the Red Sox are coming off a sweep of the Washington Nationals and are 8-2 for their last 10 games. The Royals have lost six straight and are 2-8 for their past 10 contests. Boston sits at the top of first in the American League East, while Kansas City is last in the AL Central, a good 23.5 games behind the first-place Cleveland Indians.
Pitching Matchup
The Red Sox pitching staff comes to this game with a 3.55 ERA, a 1.21 WHIP, and .232 BAA. Compare that to the Royals stats, 5.18 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, .273 BAA. Sox pitchers have tossed almost 250 more Ks than Kansas City hurlers.
Boston lefty Chris Sale (8-4 W/L, 2.41 ERA, 0.89 WHIP) comes to this game having gone 3-0-1 over this last four starts. He had a tough late May-early April, where he lost three in a row. But he has, overall, had a solid season. He last pitched on June 30 in a game against the Yankees where he went 7.0 innings, allowing one hit and striking out 11.
The Royals will counter with righty Jason Hammel (2-10 W/L, 5.56 ERA, 1.54 WHIP). Hammel’s two wins were on May 22 and May 27. Since then, he is 0-5-1. He last start was a 4-6 loss to Seattle on June on June 30. In that game, he gave up six runs on 13 hits over 6.0 innings. Hammel struck out four, have up one homer, and did not walk anyone.
Hitting
As a team, the Red Sox are batting .266 and have hammered 124 round trippers. The team’s OBP is .331 and their SLG is .456. On the other hand, Kansas City is hitting .237 with 68 homeruns. The team OBP is at .298 and their SLG comes in at .362.
The Sox have a solid stable of hitters led by Mookie Betts (.338 BA, 42 RBI, 21 HRs) and J.D. Martinez (.327 BA, 71 RBI, 26 HRs). Betts has 15 SB, while Andrew Benintendi (.279 BA, 53 RBI, 13 HRs) has 16 swipes. Whit Merrifield (.288 BA, 27 RBI, 5 HRs) and Mike Moustakas (.258 BA, 53 RBI, 16 HRs) provide the offensive punch for the Royals. Merrifield tops the team in SB (16), hits (92) and OBP (.358).
Our Boston Plays Kansas City 2018 MLB Pick
Our Boston plays Kansas City 2018 MLB pick is the Sox at -1.5 (-215). We also like the over at +103. Sale should keep the runs to a minimal number, while Hammel will probably be prone to allowing 10-plus hits and possibly double-digits in runs.
Summary Red Sox at Kansas City Free Picks: Boston at -215 (-1.5) and over 8 runs (+103)
