Orioles vs. Royals Prediction and Odds for Thursday, June 8 (Fade Kris Bubic Into Oblivion)

The 18-37 Kansas City Royals host the 24-33 Baltimore Orioles in the first game of a four-game series tonight at 8:10 PM EST.

Kansas City beat Toronto 8-4 yesterday to snap a three-game losing streak, but they've still lost eight of 10; cementing themselves as the worst team in the American League.

Kris Bubic will try to give the Royals consecutive wins for just the fourth time all year. He was impressive against Houston last week with five scoreless innings after returning from the minors, but still has a disastrous 9.33 ERA and has been the worst starter in MLB this season.

Jordan Lyles gets the call for Baltimore, bringing a 3-4 record and 4.50 ERA into today's contest. He's been the victim of poor luck in several starts as the Orioles' relievers consistently allow any and all inherited runs to score.

Can Lyles' luck turn around today or will Bubic give the Royals a second straight victory?

Let's check out the odds from WynnBET Sportsbook to help find out ahead of this Orioles vs Royals matchup:

Orioles vs Royals Odds, Run Line and Total

Run Line:

• Orioles -1.5 (+150)
• Royals +1.5 (-170)

Moneyline:

• Orioles: -105
• Royals: -105

Total:

• 9.5 (Over +105/Under -125)

Orioles vs Royals Prediction and Pick

I'm not falling for Bubic and the Royals' tricks. Sure, he looked fantastic against Houston last week, but now he's had a week with the big league club and pitching coach Cal Eldred, which always spells disaster for pitchers. The Royals' pitching staff is littered with stories of pitchers spending time away from the club in the minors, coming back and playing well before immediately imploding after spending just a little bit of time with Eldred and Kansas City's MLB coaches.

I'm not buying it, and the Orioles are a tremendous value to beat Kansas City today especially with Jordan Lyles on the mound. Lyles is a prime candidate for positive regression, as his 3.98 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) is much lower than his 4.50 ERA. He gave up four earned runs in his last start, but he pitched well enough to give up only two. Just two runs had scored before poor defense and a shaky bullpen performance allowed runners on first and second base to score with two outs, making his final line seem worse than it was.

The Royals are 4-15 in their last 19 with a weak offense and historically poor pitching staff. Think I'm exaggerating about Eldred? Think again:

It's unfathomable that we're getting -105 odds to fade Bubic and the dumpster fire of a franchise we call the Royals, but I'm not one to return gifts.

Baltimore is 9-7 in their last 16 as an underdog and I think they should be favored today. If you need any reason to back the Orioles, just look at Bubic's MLB Statcast Pitching Profile for the year:

My birthday isn't until September, but getting -105 odds to fade that guy is as good a gift as I'll get this year.

Pick: Orioles (-105)

Follow all of Joe Summers' betting picks here.