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Guardians vs. Royals Prediction, Odds and Key Players for Thursday, June 27

By Patrick Previty

Cleveland Guardians v Baltimore Orioles
Cleveland Guardians v Baltimore Orioles / Scott Taetsch/GettyImages
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An AL West litmus test starts tonight between the Cleveland Guardians and the Kansas City Royals. The two teams square off for the third time this season and for the first matchup in their four-game series this weekend.

The first series included a Guardians 8-5 win, a postponed game, and a Royals 4-3 win.

Cleveland currently holds the second best record in baseball at 51-27 and has a commanding eight-game lead from the next best team in the AL West.

The Royals, who are slumping as of late, are 3-7 over their last 10 games but find themselves just one game back from the Minnesota Twins in the AL Wildcard. Three wins in this series for them would be huge for getting back on track.

Guardians vs. Royals Odds, Run Line and Total

Run Line

  • Guardians -1.5 (+140)
  • Royals +1.5 (-160)

Money Line

  • Guardians (-115)
  • Royals (-105)

Total

  • 8.5 Runs (Over -120/Under +100)

Guardians vs. Royals Betting Trends

  • The Kansas City Royals are 2-8 against the spread in their last 10 games
  • The Royals are 3-7 in their last 10 games with a team batting average of .178.
  • The Royals are 27-15 in home games.
  • The Guardians are 25-18 on the road.
  • The under hit in six of the Cleveland Guardians last eight games on the road.

Guardians vs. Royals: How To Watch

  • Date: Thursday, June 27
  • Game Time: 8:10 PM
  • Venue: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
  • How To Watch (TV, Streaming): Fox Sports 1, MLB.TV
  • Guardians Record: 51-27
  • Royals Record: 44-38

Guardians vs. Royals Key Players To Watch

Guardians

Steven Kwan: An unlikely name to be in talks about hitting prowess prior to this season, Kwan has put together a great year so far. Batting .377 and slugging .562, some may call these numbers a career renaissance. He has already exceeded his home run total from each of the previous two season (in about 350 less at bats) and he is well on his way to passing his career-highs in doubles and hits. This level of unprecedented power is just one of the reasons Cleveland is in such high position at this point in the season.

Royals

Bobby Witt Jr.: The heart of the Royals continues to be Witt Jr. as he leads the team in batting average (.311) and RBI (53). After getting paid in the offseason to the tune of an 11-year $288.7 million contract extension, Witt Jr. is proving that he is worth the money. In games at home this season he is batting .373, has 28 RBI and has hit six home runs.

Guardians vs. Royals Prediction and Pick

It is a tale of two teams going in vastly different directions right now. The Guardians have won the last two series against the Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles, while the Royals have struggled, losing four straight series prior to going 2-1 against the Miami Marlins earlier this week.

What is most interesting about this matchup is pitching. Ben Lively (7-3, 3.03 ERA) takes the mound for Cleveland and will look to match his previous start. Against the Blue Jays, Lively gave up just three hits and two earned runs in 5.2 innings. It was a vast improvement from his previous start where he gave up four earned runs in the same amount of innings.

The Royals are trotting out Michael Wacha (4-6, 4.07 ERA) who has pitched much better after giving up seven earned runs against the Texas Rangers over a month ago. Since that start — which only lasted 3.2 innings — Wacha has logged games of 2, 1, 2, 2, 2 and 1 earned runs with each start going at least five innings.

Pitching will be the X-factor in the first game of the series so stear clear of the over on runs and look for the game to tighten up as things play on. If Wacha can continue his stellar pitching from the last month against the hot Cleveland bats, then Kansas City will start the series with a win. If he gets tagged for a few early runs, then the Royals will need their offense to get out of their recent slump very quickly.

Pick: Royals to WIN

Note: Game odds are subject to change.

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