Pittsburgh Pirates vs Kansas City Royals Prediction & Betting Tips 9/14/2024

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Kansas City Royals Preview

At 1:05 PM ET, the Royals and Pirates face off in an interleague matchup. This one is being played at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, and the money line odds have the Pirates at -109 compared to the Royals at -109. The over/under line is currently 8 runs.

Michael Wacha is starting for the Royals, while the Pirates are going with Mitch Keller. The Royals are 2nd in the AL Central, while the Pirates are 5th in the NL Central. BSKC is carrying this one on TV.

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Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Kansas City Royals Trends and Key Stats

• 2-3 is the record of Royals in their last five road games. They have also gone 3-2 vs. the runline.
• On the opposing side, the Pirates have a 3-2 (SU) record, along with a 3-2 record in their last five home contests.
• In their previous ten games, the Royals have recorded a 8-2 record as the favorite, while they have a 2-8 record as the underdog.
• 7-3 is the record of the Pirates as the favorite, while their record as the underdog stands at 3-7.

Thanks to a six-run 2nd inning for the Royals’ offense, they cruised to an easy 8-3 win over the Pirates in the most recent game of this series. Heading into the game, the Royals were at -105 on the money line.

The starting pitching matchup for this game featured Alec Marsh for the Royals, and he went just 5 1/3 innings while giving up one run and striking out 11. Luis L. Ortiz only went four innings for the Pirates, giving up four runs on five hits.

Kyle Isbel and Salvador Perez each homered for the Royals, while Oneil Cruz went 2/5 with an RBI for the Pirates.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Kansas City Royals Prediction

Kansas City is 81-67 overall and is 3.0 games behind the Guardians in the AL Central. The Royals lead the series vs. the Pirates 1-0 and are 6-4 over their last 10 games. This season, they have been really good against other teams in the AL Central, going 33-16.

At home, the Royals have gone 45-30 this season, and they are just above .500 at 36-37 on the road. As the favorite, the Royals are 46-26 this season, and they are 35-41 as the underdog. Kansas City has won three straight games as the favorite.

When the Royals are on the road, they are a solid bet against the run line, with a record of 40-33. Their average run margin on the road is +0.6 runs per game. They have covered the run line in three straight games and are 3-0 against the run line as the favorite in those games.

Today’s over/under line for the Kansas City Royals’ game against the Pittsburgh Pirates is set at 8 runs. The Royals have played in 92 games with over/under lines set above 8 runs, which accounts for 62.2% of their games this season. Their combined run average is 8.8 runs per game, and their over/under record for the season is 66-77. When the over/under line has been set at 8 runs, the Royals have a record of 14-14-3.

Kansas City is sending Michael Wacha to the mound today vs. the Pirates, and he comes into the game with a record of 12-7 and an ERA of 3.34. Wacha has made 26 starts this season and has turned in 14 quality starts. In his last outing, he pitched well, going seven innings and not giving up a run. He finished with seven strikeouts in that outing. Before that, he had given up at least two earned runs in three straight starts. Wacha’s ERA at home is 3.49, compared to 3.85 on the road.

Salvador Perez has been on a tear for the Royals, going 12/30 in his last nine games with two homers and nine RBIs. Perez is also on a five-game hitting streak. For the season, he is batting .280 with 27 homers and 103 RBIs, which is 4th best in the league. Bobby Witt Jr. is hitting .332 for the season and has gone deep 30 times, which is the best mark on the team and 12th best in the MLB.

As a team, the Royals are averaging 4.7 runs per game and are one of the best hitting teams in the league, coming in with a team batting average of .253. They are also one of the hardest teams to strike out in the league. Kansas City’s offense has been good at home, averaging 5 runs per contest.

Pittsburgh is 70-77 overall and trails the Reds by one game for 4th place in the NL Central. The Pirates are 15 games behind the Brewers for the division lead. Currently, they are 22-20 in divisional games this season.

The Pirates were favored in a lot of their games, as they are 33-27 when favored this year. As for their record as the underdog, they are 37-50. At home, the Pirates are 15-18 as the underdog. Pittsburgh has an overall series record of 20-21-6 this year.

So far, the Pirates have gone 6-4 over their last 10 games. At home, they are 37-39 this year compared to a 33-38 mark on the road.

When the Pirates win, they do so by an average of 3.2 runs per game, but when they lose, they lose by an average of 3.6 runs per game. Their run line record is 81-66, and they have covered the run line 43 times on the road, where they have a scoring margin of -0.2 runs per game. Their overall run line record is 38-38 at home, where they have a scoring margin of -0.5 runs per game.

When the Pirates play at home, the over/under line is set at 8 runs. The Pirates and their opponents have combined to average 8.8 runs per game this season. Overall, the over/under record for the Pirates is 73-72, and when the line is set at 8 runs, the record is 16-16. In games with an over/under line of 8 runs, the Pirates have played to the over 51.0% of the time.

Mitch Keller will be looking to bounce back from his last outing, where he finished with a no-decision. Against the Nationals, he went six innings, giving up two earned runs, and coming away with a no-decision. Looking back over his last three outings, Keller has given up at least two earned runs in each of them. His record for the season is 11-9, and he has an ERA of 3.85. Opponents are batting .250 off Keller this season. In 28 starts, he has turned in 14 quality starts and is averaging 8.41 strikeouts per nine innings.

For the season, the Pirates are averaging 4.2 runs per game, which is 19th in the majors. At home, they have been slightly better, averaging 4.4 runs per game. Overall, they are batting .236 as a team, which is 17th in the league, and have the 23rd ranked home run total in the league. One area where they have been strong is putting the ball in play, as their team BABIP is 10th in the league.

Andrew McCutchen has been swinging a hot bat of late, going 5/14 in his last four games with two homers. For the season, he is batting just .238, but his 20 homers is 2nd on the team. Bryan Reynolds is the Pirates’ top hitter this season, with a batting average of .281 and a team-high 22 homers. Reynolds has also been playing well of late, going 8/24 in his last six games.

With the money line payout sitting at -109 for both teams, we see this as a great opportunity to take the Pirates to pick up a win at home. Our predicted final score is 5-4 in favor of the Pirates, giving us some room to take them on the money line.

Looking at the starting pitchers, we have Mitch Keller finishing with five strikeouts compared to Michael Wacha, who we have finishing with five as well. However, Keller has a better chance of picking up a win, and we have him finishing with a better ERA than Wacha.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Kansas City Royals Betting Tips

• We like the Pirates on the moneyline (-109)
• The Pirates are also our pick on the run line at +1.5
• Projecting a combined 9 runs, we like the over

Pittsburgh Pirates Injury Report

Kansas City Royals Injury Report