Royals vs. Athletics Prediction and Odds for Saturday, June 18 (Cole Irvin Gives Athletics Edge at Home)
By Joe Summers
The 22-41 Kansas City Royals achieved a rare feat in their miserable season yesterday: back-to-back wins! They'll gun for three straight against the 22-44 Oakland Athletics at 4:07 PM EST today.
Brad Keller pitches for Kansas City after compiling a 7.90 ERA in three starts this month. Keller has steadily declined after a stellar April, amassing a 5.40 ERA in May before the troublesome start to June. He seeks his second win of the campaign as the Royals have lost seven straight games he's pitched.
Oakland turns to Cole Irvin to stop the bleeding after allowing four earned runs in a loss to Cleveland last week. He allowed two or fewer runs in seven of his last eight starts prior to that, so Irvin hopes to bounce back in this one.
Can he get back on track and bring the A's with him? Or will Keller finally get back in the win column to give Kansas City another victory?
To find the value in this Royals vs Athletics matchup, let's first look at the odds from WynnBET Sportsbook:
Royals vs Athletics Odds, Run Line and Total
Run Line:
- Royals -1.5 (+160)
- Athletics +1.5 (-195)
Moneyline:
- Royals: -105
- Athletics: -105
Total:
- 8.0 (Over -120/Under +100)
Royals vs Athletics Prediction and Pick
The Golden State Warriors may have just won the NBA Finals, but not all is well in the Bay Area sports scene. Over their last 20 games, the Athletics are 3-17 with 14 of the losses coming by at least three runs.
That's a remarkable stretch of futility, and it gets more stomach-churning the deeper you look. Oakland currently has the second-worst OPS of any MLB team in the last ten years. This year's Detroit Tigers are the only team worse, and the A's inability to generate any offense whatsoever is why their season is a disaster.
Well, a matchup with Brad Keller could be just what the doctor ordered. In four of his last five starts, the Royals' opponent scored seven runs or more. Kansas City still has the AL's worst bullpen, and with the wind blowing straight out to center field Oakland's lineup will have ample opportunity to score.
If the A's can't score against Keller and this bullpen in the wind? They may never score again.
Cole Irvin will do his best to ensure they don't have to. He's got a 1.61 ERA at home over five starts and despite the fact that Oakland has lost six in a row behind him, three of those were blown saves by the bullpen. He'll put the A's in a position to win, so I'll back the pitcher I trust more. If the Athletics can't get it done today, I may have to swear off them for the rest of the year. But at these odds, I'll roll with a bounce-back performance.
Pick: Athletics (-105)
Follow all of Joe Summers' betting picks here.