Royals vs Red Sox Prediction - MLB Picks 8/9/23

Boston Red Sox (58-55) vs Kansas City Royals (37-78)

Game Info: Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 7:10 pm (Fenway Park)

Nick Pivetta (7-6) (4.19) vs Jordan Lyles (3-12) (6.24)

Betting Odds: Boston Red Sox / Kansas City Royals --- Over/Under: Click Here for the Latest Odds

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The Kansas City Royals will play the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of their series on Wednesday night at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston won the first game in this series by a score of 6-2 on Monday, while Kansas City answered with a 9-3 win in Game 2 on Tuesday. The Royals continue to play well over the last two weeks, but can they keep it up here?

Royals Preview

The Kansas City Royals are 37-78 this season and they have won eight of their last eleven games. Prior to this series, Kansas City lost two out of three games on the road in Philadelphia. While the Royals have played well recently, they have been terrible on the road this season and are 3-8 in their last 11 road games. The Kansas City pitching staff has a 5.19 ERA, a 1.41 WHIP, and a .263 opponent batting average this year. The Royals offense has scored 451 runs with a .239 batting average and a .298 on base percentage. Bobby Witt is batting .268 with 20 home runs and 68 RBI’s for the Royals. The projected starting pitcher for Kansas City is Jordan Lyles, who is 3-12 with a 6.24 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP over 118.1 innings pitched this season.

Red Sox Preview

The Boston Red Sox are 58-55 this season and they have lost eight of their last ten games. Boston came into this series after losing all three of their games at home to Toronto. The Red Sox have allowed 42 runs in their last six games, which is seven runs per game. The Boston pitching staff has a 4.40 ERA, a 1.32 WHIP, and a .257 opponent batting average. The Red Sox offense has scored 552 runs with a .261 batting average and a .328 on base percentage this season. Rafael Devers is batting .264 with 26 home runs and 79 RBI’s for the Red Sox. The projected starting pitcher for Boston is Nick Pivetta, who is 7-6 with a 4.19 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP over 92.1 innings pitched this year. 

Boston Red Sox Team Facts

  • The Red Sox have won each of their last eight home games against the Royals following a loss.
  • The Red Sox have covered the run line in each of their last five night games against American League opponents following a home loss.
  • The 'Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs' market has hit in each of the Red Sox's last five games against AL Central opponents.
  • The Red Sox have trailed after 3 innings in six of their last seven games as favorites.
  • The Red Sox have trailed after 5 innings in four of their last six games as home favorites against American League opponents.

Kansas City Royals Team Facts

  • The Royals have lost each of their last 13 road games against American League opponents following a win.
  • The Royals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last nine games as underdogs against AL East opponents following a road win.
  • The 'Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs' market has hit in each of the Royals' last four night games against AL East opponents.
  • The Royals have led after 7 innings in seven of their last 10 games as underdogs.

Boston Red Sox Player Prop Facts

  • Luis Urias has hit a home run in two of his last three appearances with his team as a home favorite against AL Central opponents.
  • Connor Wong has recorded at least one RBI in four of his last five home appearances against AL Central opponents.
  • Rafael Devers has recorded two or more total bases in each of his last 10 Wednesday night appearances against teams that held a losing record.
  • Rafael Devers has scored at least one run in six of his last seven appearances in night games against teams that held a losing record.
  • Trevor Story has recorded at least one hit in 14 of his last 15 home appearances after playing the previous day.
  • Rafael Devers ranks T10th in the league in Home Runs (26) this season.

Kansas City Royals Player Prop Facts

  • MJ Melendez has hit a home run in two of the Royals' last three games as road underdogs.
  • Kyle Isbel has scored at least one run in seven of his last eight appearances with the Royals as underdogs against AL opponents.
  • Bobby Witt Jr. has recorded at least one RBI in six of his last seven appearances.
  • Kyle Isbel has recorded two or more total bases in each of his last five appearances against AL opponents that held a winning record.
  • MJ Melendez has recorded at least one hit in each of the Royals' last nine games against AL East opponents.

Matchup/League Facts

  • The Boston Red Sox ranks 4th in the league for batting average this season (.261).
  • The Boston Red Sox ranks 6th in the league for hits this season (1010).
  • The Kansas City Royals ranks 29th in the league for walks this season (284).
  • The Kansas City Royals ranks 28th in the league for runs scored this season (451).

Pick

The Red Sox have really struggled over the last two weeks and they are at the bottom of the AL East standings. Kansas City is also at the bottom of their division, but they are currently playing their best baseball of the season. The Royals are scoring a ton of runs right now, which is helping to cover up one of the worst team ERA’s in baseball. Kansas City is starting Jordan Lyles, who has allowed 13 earned runs in his last 15.2 innings pitched. Boston is starting Nick Pivetta, who has allowed six earned runs over his last 11.1 innings. Lyles has really struggled in recent starts and I think the Red Sox will get to him early here. Take Boston -1.5 in this matchup.

David’s Pick Red Sox -1.5

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The pick in this article is the opinion of the writer, not a PickDawgz site consensus.

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