Astros vs. Royals Prediction and Odds for Friday, June 3 (Brady Singer Gives Royals Advantage)

The 16-33 Kansas City Royals have lost four straight as they open a homestand with the 33-18 Houston Astros tonight at 8:10 PM EST.

Houston brings a four-game winning streak into the series after sweeping Oakland and will start Jose Urquidy. The 27-year-old righty has struggled on the road, amassing a 7.09 ERA over six starts, and got smacked around for 12 hits and five runs by Seattle in his last outing.

On the other end, Brady Singer hopes to continue his emergence for Kansas City after picking up his second win of the campaign against Minnesota last week. In his three starts since returning from the minors, Singer has a 1.37 ERA in 19.1 innings with 20 strikeouts and only three walks.

Can Singer give Kansas City just their third win in 14 games or will Urquidy put together a solid performance on the road to give Houston another win?

Here are the odds from WynnBET Sportsbook to help us analyze this Astros vs Royals matchup:

Astros vs Royals Odds, Run Line and Total

Run Line:

• Astros -1.5 (+125)
• Royals +1.5 (-150)

Moneyline:

• Astros: -127
• Royals: +117

Total:

• 8.5 (Over -120/Under +100)

Astros vs Royals Prediction and Pick

Brady Singer has long hoped to harness the potential that made him the National Player of the Year in college and a first-round pick, but inconsistency and command issues plagued him.

He seems to have figured things out. After ranking in just the 39th percentile in walk rate and 41st in strikeout percentage last year, he's up to the 92nd and 73rd, respectively. Batters aren't standing a chance. His 2.71 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) would rank ninth in MLB among qualified pitchers and his 0.86 WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) would be third.

All of a sudden, Singer is one of the very best pitchers in the sport. He'll likely come down to earth a bit, but even still he's a pitcher I want to target the rest of the season.

The Astros have the worst OPS in the league against right-handed pitchers the last two weeks while the Royals have the 10th-best. As a result, Singer has a massive advantage over the road-challenged Urquidy, whose 7.09 ERA away from home has been the biggest disappointment of Houston's rotation.

Kansas City has the worst bullpen in the American League, so I'll avoid a potential meltdown by taking the Royals to win the first five innings at +100.

But I also love the under. Betting the under in Houston's games has been extremely profitable and despite Urquidy's issues, I'm happy to keep backing the most profitable trend in baseball. Both of these teams have a top-five defense per MLB Statcast's Outs Above Average metric and the Astros have baseball's best bullpen.

Take the Royals to win the first five innings, but take the full-game under as well. I expect a final score in the neighborhood of 4-2 as Singer's breakout continues.

Pick: Royals First Five Innings (+100) and Under 8.5 (+100)

Follow all of Joe Summers' betting picks here.