The Cleveland Indians (21-13) visit the Kansas City Royals (13-21) Monday for the opener of a three-game set in Kauffman Stadium at 8:05 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Indians-Royals MLB betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
Indians at Royals: Projected starting pitchers
RHP Shane Bieber vs. RHP Brad Keller
Bieber in 2020: 6-0 with a 1.35 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 14.5 K/9 (MLB’s best) and 1.7 BB/9 in 46⅔ IP over 7 starts.
- Last start: Win, 6 IP with 4 H, 2 ER, 10 K and 3 BB in a 4-2 win vs. the Minnesota Twins Tuesday.
- Career vs. Royals: 4-0 with a 4.33 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 43 K and 10 BB in 35⅓ IP over 6 starts.
Keller in 2020: 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 7.6 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 21 ⅔ IP over 4 GS.
- Last start: Loss, 4 IP with 6 H, 5 ER, 4 K and 3 BB in a 9-3 loss at St. Louis Cardinals Aug. 24.
- Career vs. Indians: 2-1 with a 1.38 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 26 K and 9 BB in 26 IP over 6 G (4 GS).
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Indians at Royals: Key injuries
(Get the latest injury news here.)
Royals
- RP Ian Kennedy (calf) questionable
- C Salvador Perez (eye) out
Also see: BaseballHQ Fantasy Baseball
Indians at Royals: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 2:13 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Royals 4, Indians 2
Moneyline (ML)
The Indians (-239) have won four of their last five games but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 Sunday. Cleveland won its earlier season series against Kansas City 2-1 and have a 26-15 record against the Royals since 2018.
The Royals (+210) lost 5-2 in 10 innings at the Chicago White Sox Sunday, and dropped two of three in that series. Kansas City has struggled recently, going 3-7 in its last 10 games.
Bieber has been brilliant all season — he’s definitely the AL Cy Young to this point of the year — and there’s no reason to expect a bad outing against a Royals lineup that is below-average in runs per game, batting average, OBP and slugging percentage.
However, Keller had a 17 ⅔ IP scoreless streak recently snapped in his last outing and started the season with three straight wins, including two quality starts. Let’s TAKE ROYALS for a small wager and then get the run line for insurance.
New to sports betting? A $25 bet on the Royals pays a $52.50 profit if they win.
Run line/Against the spread (ATS)
Betting ROYALS +2.5 (-134) is insurance on our ML wager partially based on the pitching matchup and Cleveland’s lackluster hitting. The Indians -2.5 (+110) are bottom-10 in the majors in several hitting categories, even below the Royals in many of them.
A $67 wager on the Royals +2.5 pays a $50 profit if Kansas City wins or loses by two or fewer runs.
Over/Under (O/U)
The only fear I have betting the total is the UNDER 7.5 (-110) is a little too obvious. The pitching and hitting matchups line up perfectly. Also, the Under is 5-0-1 in the Royals’ last six games as a home underdog and is 5-0-1 in the Royals’ last six home games vs. a right-handed starter.
A $110 bet on Under 7.5 pays a $100 profit if the total of Indians-Royals is 7 or fewer runs.
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