Houston Astros (71-62) vs Kansas City Royals (75-59)
Game Info: Friday, August 30, 2024 at 8:10 pm (Minute Maid Park)
The Line: Betting Odds: Houston Astros -175 / Kansas City Royals +148 — Over/Under:
The Kansas City Royals and the Houston Astros meet Friday in MLB action from Minute Maid Park. Here’s a Kansas City Royals vs Houston Astros prediction. This will be the second installment in a four-game series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Royals vs Astros pick. We will examine:
The Kansas City Royals recent form and player performance
The Houston Astros recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Kansas City Royals
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Houston Astros
Recent betting trends in games played between the Royals and Astros
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Royals vs Astros game
Kansas City Royals Betting Preview
This week the Royals took on the Cleveland Guardians. Kansas City won the first three installments before a Wednesday defeat 7-5. In the Thursday opener versus Houston, Kansas City managed to lose 6-3 on just four hits. Brady Singer finished with 6.0 innings and two earned runs.
Seth Lugo will start for the Royals on Friday. So far this year Lugo is 14-8 with a 3.19 ERA in 27 starts. Lugo is 54-39 with a 3.43 ERA in 328 career games (91 starts). The Royals will face the Guardians and Twins following this series.
Houston Astros Betting Preview
Over on the Astros’ side, they played the Philadelphia Phillies in their last series. Houston lost the first pair, then on Wednesday the Astros stopped the sweep with a blowout 10-0 win. In Thursday’s matchup Houston posted four runs in the eighth inning on the way to the win. Starter Hunter Brown posted 6.2 innings with no earned, two hits and two walks.
As starter for Friday Houston will send out Framber Valdez. So far this year Valdez is 13-6 with a 3.27 ERA in 23 starts. Valdez is 66-40 with a 3.38 ERA in 152 games (130 starts). The Astros will take on the Reds, Diamondbacks, and Athletics after this series.
Total Runs Facts
- Nine of the Royals’ last 11 night games as underdogs have gone OVER the total runs line.
- Four of the Astros’ last five games as favorites against the Royals have gone OVER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Royals’ last eight games as road underdogs against AL West opponents.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Astros’ last four night games against American League opponents.
Houston Astros Player Prop Facts
- Yainer Diaz has hit a home run in five of the Astros’ last eight night games against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- Yordan Alvarez has recorded at least one RBI in four of his last five appearances with the Astros as favorites against AL Central opponents.
- Framber Valdez has recorded a win in each of his last six home appearances.
- Yainer Diaz has scored at least one run in 10 of the Astros’ last 11 night games against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- Framber Valdez has recorded seven or more strikeouts in each of his last five appearances at Minute Maid Park.
- Yordan Alvarez has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Astros’ last nine games against the Royals at Minute Maid Park.
- Jeremy Pena has recorded at least one Single in each of his last eight appearances in night games against AL Central teams that held a winning record.
- Yordan Alvarez has recorded at least one hit in each of the Astros’ last nine games against the Royals at Minute Maid Park.
- Yordan Alvarez ranks 4th amongst qualified players for Batting Average (.313) this season.
Kansas City Royals Player Prop Facts
- Paul DeJong has hit a home run in three of his last five appearances against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- Seth Lugo has recorded five or more strikeouts in six of his last seven appearances with the Royals as road underdogs against AL opponents.
- Bobby Witt Jr. has scored at least one run in each of the Royals’ last 10 Friday night games against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- MJ Melendez has recorded at least one hit in each of his last eight Friday night appearances.
- Maikel Garcia has recorded at least one Single in seven of his last eight appearances with the Royals as road underdogs against AL West opponents.
- Hunter Renfroe has recorded two or more total bases in four of his last five appearances in night games.
- Kyle Isbel has recorded at least one RBI in each of the Royals’ last three games against AL West opponents that held a winning record.
- Austin Nola has recorded a Double in three of his last four appearances with his team as a road underdog against AL West opponents.
- Seth Lugo ranks T3rd in the league for Wins (14) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Houston Astros rank 2nd in the league for opponent batting average this season (.228).
- The Houston Astros rank 2nd in the league for hits allowed this season (1009).
- The Kansas City Royals rank 3rd in the league for triples this season (31).
- The Kansas City Royals rank 28th in the league for walks this season (352).
Kansas City Royals vs Houston Astros Prediction
I’m leaning toward Houston. At least some of that is due to Lugo’s spotty numbers recently. He did well against the Angels on August 19 with 7.0 innings, two earned, four hits and three walks in a victory. In the other two of his last three starts however, Lugo is 0-2 with 9.1 innings and 12 earned runs.
On Thursday Houston came back from a 3-2 deficit in the eighth and kept KC off the board outside of the three-run seventh. The Astros’ hitting was a little sporadic, but the pitching staff made up for it. I like Houston to keep it up Friday.