The Kansas City Royals (4-15) and Los Angeles Angels (9-10) open up a 3-game set at Angel Stadium Friday. First pitch is at 9:38 p.m. ET. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Royals vs. Angels odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.
Season series: First meeting; tied 3-3 in 2022
The Royals have lost 9 of 10 and enter Friday with the 2nd-worst record in baseball. They were outscored 28-5 in a 3-game sweep byd to the Rangers earlier this week. They are second-to-last with 3.13 runs/9 and have a league-worst .208 batting average.
The Angels dropped 2 of 3 at Yankee Stadium this week after dropping 3 of 4 in Boston. They are 3-3 at home and have their ace on the hill. The pitching has been solid. They are 16th in runs/9 at 4.48, but they’re top-10 in OBA (.233), OPS (.692) and HRs allowed (0.81).
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Royals at Angels projected starters
RHP Taylor Clarke vs. RHP Shohei Ohtani
Clarke (1-0, 6.75 ERA) makes his 8th appearance (1st start) this season. He has a 2.00 WHIP, 3.4 BB/9 and 13.5 K/9 in 8 IP.
- Threw 32 pitches in his last outing April 19: Allowed 3 ER on 4 H and 1 BB while fanning 2 in 1 IP
- Features a 95-mph fastball, 90-mph changeup, 85-mph slider and 84-mph sweeper: opposing hitters are 5-for-9 (.556) against his fastball
Ohtani (2-0, 0.86 ERA) makes his 5th start. He has a 0.91 WHIP, 5.6 BB/9 and 11.6 K/9 in 21 IP.
- Last start was cut short because of a rain delay: allowed 1 ER on 0 H, 1 BB and struck out 3 in 2 IP vs. Boston.
- 2 career starts vs. KC: 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 17 K in 12 IP
Royals at Angels odds
Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 3:07 p.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Royals +240 (bet $100 to win $240) | Angels -300 (bet $300 to win $100)
- Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Royals +2.5 (-135) | Angels -2.5 (+110)
- Over/Under (O/U): 8.5 (O: -120 | U: +100)
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Royals at Angels picks and predictions
Prediction
Angels 5, Royals 2
Moneyline
The Royals are 3-9 in the last 12 meetings in Angel Stadium, and there’s no reason to believe they can pull off the upset. There’s also no reason to rush to the app to risk 3 times your return when the Angels lost Ohtani’s 1st start of the season to the last-place A’s.
Instead, let’s roll with SHOHEI OHTANI OVER 18.5 OUTS (+125). He’ll have to be efficient, but he went 7 IP in his last start before the rain-shortened one and 8 IP in his last start against KC.
Run line/Against the spread
I stayed away from the ML, and I’m staying farther away from a RL of the Angels needing to win by 3.
Instead, let’s do a mini-One Game Parlay.
Take the ANGELS -1.5 + SHOHEI OHTANI 6+ STRIKEOUTS (+100).
Ohtani has struck out at least 6 in his last 11 starts (not affected by rain), dating back to last season.
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Over/Under
The Under is 4-0 in the last 4 between the teams and 7-3-1 in the last 11 in LA. The Under has cashed in Ohtani’s last 6 starts against under-.500 teams. The juice is on the Over, though, because KC is going with a bullpen game, and the wind is blowing out to right-center at 10 mph.
So we have to trust the Angels’ offense to deliver an Over here or the bullpens to bring an Under.
No thanks. I’ll PASS.
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