Kansas City Royals (88-77) vs New York Yankees (95-68)
Game Info: Wednesday, October 9, 2024 at 7:08 pm (Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium)
The Line: Betting Odds: Kansas City Royals -105 / New York Yankees -115 — Over/Under:
The New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals meet Wednesday in MLB playoffs action from Kauffman Stadium. This will be the Game 3 in a best-of-five postseason series. Here’s a New York Yankees vs Kansas City Royals prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Yankees vs Royals pick. We will examine:
The New York Yankees’ recent form and player performance
The Kansas City Royals’ recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the New York Yankees
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Kansas City Royals
Recent betting trends in games played between Yankees and Royals
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Yankees vs Royals game
New York Yankees Betting Preview
New York didn’t get the greatest performance out of ace starter Gerrit Cole (5.0 innings; three earned) in the Saturday opener of this set, but the offense did just enough to eke out a 6-5 win. In Monday’s Game 2, the Yankees coughed up four runs in the top of the fourth inning on the way to a 4-2 defeat. Starter Carlos Rodon had a rough outing with 3.2 innings, seven hits, and all four earned.
In the starter slot for Game 3, the Yankees will send out Clarke Schmidt. This year Schmidt went 5-5 with a 2.85 ERA in 16 starts. Schmidt is 0-2 with an 11.57 ERA in three postseason games over his career.
Kansas City Royals Betting Preview
Over on the Royals’ side, their pitchers gave up eight walks (combined across six players) in the series opener on Saturday. MJ Melendez (homer) and Garrett Hampson each turned in two RBI. On Monday KC posted 11 team hits in the big road victory. Maikel Garcia went 4-for-5 with an RBI and Salvador Perez had a solo homer.
As a starter for Wednesday’s matchup, the Royals are rolling with Seth Lugo. Over 33 starts this year Lugo went 16-9 with a 3.00 ERA. Lugo has a 1.42 career postseason ERA in four games (one start) without a decision.
Total Runs Facts
- Each of the Royals’ last four home games against AL East opponents has gone OVER the total runs line.
- Six of the Yankees’ last eight playoff games have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the last five night games between the Yankees and Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Yankees’ last four games as favorites against AL Central opponents.
Kansas City Royals Player Prop Facts
- Vinnie Pasquantino has hit a home run in two of his last three home appearances against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- Bobby Witt Jr. has recorded a Double in five of the Royals’ last six games as home underdogs against AL East opponents.
- Vinnie Pasquantino has recorded at least one RBI in each of his last 10 appearances at Kauffman Stadium against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- Bobby Witt Jr. has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Royals’ last 10 Wednesday games against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- Bobby Witt Jr. has scored at least one run in seven of the Royals’ last eight games against AL East opponents at Kauffman Stadium.
- Tommy Pham has recorded at least one Single in each of the Royals’ last seven night games against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- Salvador Perez has recorded at least one hit in each of the Royals’ last 13 games against AL East opponents.
- Bobby Witt Jr. ranks 3rd amongst qualified players for Slugging Percentage (.588) this season.
New York Yankees Player Prop Facts
- Gleyber Torres has hit a home run in three of his last four appearances against the Royals after not playing the previous day.
- Giancarlo Stanton has recorded at least one RBI in each of his last four road appearances against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
- Gleyber Torres has scored at least one run in nine of the Yankees’ last 10 night games against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
- Jose Trevino has recorded at least one total base in each of his last eight road appearances against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
- DJ LeMahieu has recorded a hit in each of his last nine appearances in night playoff games.
- Jose Trevino has recorded at least one Single in each of his last eight road appearances against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
- Aaron Judge ranks 1st amongst qualified players for Slugging Percentage (.701) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Kansas City Royals rank 3rd in the league for triples this season (35).
- The Kansas City Royals rank 28th in the league for walks this season (429).
- The New York Yankees rank 3rd in the league for runs scored this season (815).
- The New York Yankees rank 3rd in the league for RBIs this season (782).
New York Yankees vs Kansas City Royals Prediction
I’ll lean toward Kansas City. Lugo has one postseason appearance under his belt so far this year, posting one earned run on five hits and a walk in 4.1 innings during an eventual 2-1 win over the Orioles. As for Schmidt, he finished off the regular season a little rough with seven earned runs in 9.1 innings across two starts. Schmidt went 0-1 in that pair.
On Monday the Yankees’ bats stayed cool, but at least Aaron Judge managed to get on base with a hit and a walk. Otherwise, the Royals did a pretty good job at minimizing the damage while riding the big offensive fourth inning to an eventual victory. KC will be comfortable with a tied series and a couple of Kauffman Stadium games on the horizon. I like the Royals to keep rolling with another win to put New York on the brink of elimination. The winner of this series will take on the Guardians or Tigers in the ALCS.