Royals vs Pirates Prediction & MLB Odds For Saturday, September 14th

At 1:05 PM ET, the Pirates and Royals will square off in an interleague matchup. This one is being played at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, and the forecast calls for clear skies and temperatures in the low 60s. Michael Wacha is starting for the Royals, and he is facing off against Mitch Keller. The Pirates are 5th in the NL Central, while the Royals are 2nd in the AL Central, with an overall record of 81-67.

The money line odds have the Royals at -109 compared to the Pirates at -109. The over/under line is currently at 8 runs, and BSKC is carrying this game on TV. In his last start, Wacha allowed three runs in 5.2 innings, while Keller gave up four runs in five innings.

Betting Odds & Lines for this Game

• Spread: Royals -1.5 (+152) | Pirates 1.5 (-183)
• Total: 8
• MoneyLine: Royals -109 | Pirates -109

All Odds are courtesy of (BetMGM | DraftKings | Fanduel | BetRivers)

Royals vs. Pirates Prediction: Moneyline

Thanks to a six-run 2nd inning for the Royals’ offense, they cruised to an easy 8-3 win over the Pirates in the most recent game of this series. Heading into the game, the Royals were at -105 on the money line.

The starting pitching matchup for this game featured Alec Marsh for the Royals, and he went just 5 1/3 innings while giving up one run and striking out 11. Luis L. Ortiz only went four innings for the Pirates, giving up four earned runs on five hits.

Kyle Isbel and Salvador Perez each homered for the Royals, while Oneil Cruz went 2/5 with an RBI for the Pirates.

Kansas City is 81-67 overall and is 3.0 games behind the Guardians for the AL Central lead. So far, they have gone 33-16 against other teams in the AL Central. The Royals are on a three-game winning streak, and they are 6-4 across their last 10 games.

At home, the Royals have gone 45-30 this year and are just under .500 at 36-37 on the road. As the favorite, the Royals are 46-26 this year and 35-41 as the underdog. Kansas City’s overall series record is 21-24-2, and they are winning their current series vs. the Pirates.

The Pirates are 70-77 overall and trail the Reds by one game for 4th place in the NL Central. So far, they have gone 22-20 in divisional games. Currently, they are 15 games out of first place in the NL Central.

Pittsburgh has an overall series record of 20-21-6 this year, and they are 37-50 as the underdog this season. At home, the Pirates are 15-18 when favored and 37-39 overall at home. On the road, the Pirates are 33-38 this year.

Royals vs. Pirates Prediction: Over/Under

The Kansas City Royals are on the road today against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The O/U line for the game is set at 8 runs. The Royals have a combined run average of 8.8 runs per game this season. Overall, the over/under record for Kansas City games this season is 66-77. The average O/U line for their games is 8 runs. When the O/U line has been set at 8 runs, their record is 14-14-3. The majority of their games this season have had higher O/U lines, with 62.2% of their games having lines set over 8 runs.

Bobby Witt Jr. has been one of the league’s top power hitters this season, as his 30 home runs are 12th in the league and the best mark on the Royals. He is also batting .332 for the season and has driven in 99 runs, which is 7th in the MLB. Salvador Perez is right behind him in homers, with 27, and is 4th in the league with 103 RBIs. Perez has also been swinging a hot bat of late, going 12/30 in his last nine games.

As a team, the Royals are averaging 4.7 runs per game, which is 9th in the league. They have been even better at home, averaging 5 runs per contest. Overall, they are the 7th best hitting team in the league, with a team batting average of .253.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are at home today against the Kansas City Royals. The over/under line for the game is set at 8 runs. The combined run average for Pirates games this season is 8.8 runs. The Pirates have a 73-72 over/under record on the season, and their games have had an average over/under line of 8 runs. When the over/under line is set at 8 runs, the Pirates have a 16-16 over/under record. So far this season, 51.0% of Pirates games have had over/under lines set at over 8 runs, while 27.2% have had lines set at under 8 runs.

For the season, the Pirates are averaging 4.2 runs per game, which is 19th in the MLB. This includes averaging 4.4 runs per game at home and 4.1 runs per game on the road. As a team, they are batting just .236, which is 17th in the league, and their on-base percentage of .302 is 21st.

Andrew McCutchen has been swinging a hot bat of late, going 5/14 in his last four games with two homers and four RBIs. For the season, he is batting just .238, but his 20 homers are 2nd on the team. Bryan Reynolds has been even better for the Pirates, hitting .281 with a team-high 22 homers and 84 RBIs. Reynolds has also gone 8/24 in his last six games.

Royals vs. Pirates Prediction: Spread

When the Royals are on the road, they have been a solid bet on the run line, going 40-33 overall. They have covered the run line in three straight road games and are 3-0 ATS as the favorite in that span. Overall, they are 83-65 ATS on the run line this season.

Michael Wacha is looking to build off his last outing, where he didn’t give up a run. Against the Twins on September 8th, he picked up the win, going seven innings and giving up just four hits. Looking at his overall numbers, Wacha has made 26 starts and has a record of 12-7. His ERA for the season is 3.34, along with a WHIP of 1.19. Wacha has made 14 quality starts this year and is averaging 7.75 strikeouts per nine innings. For the season, he has allowed 16 homers and is averaging 2.38 walks per nine innings.

When the Pirates win, they win big, with an average run margin of 3.2 runs. However, when they lose, they lose by an average of 3.6 runs. Overall, their run line record is 81-66, and they are 38-38 against the run line at home. As the favorite, they are just 24-36 against the run line, while they are 57-30 as the underdog.

Pittsburgh is sending Mitch Keller to the mound today vs. the Royals. The right-hander has made 28 starts this season and has a record of 11-9 with a 3.85 ERA. Looking at his overall numbers, Keller has a WHIP of 1.26 and has issued just 2.31 walks per nine innings. Keller’s last outing came against the Nationals, where he finished with a no-decision. In that start, he went six innings and gave up two earned runs on seven hits. Before that, he had lost three straight starts. Keller’s ERA at home is 3.14 compared to 5.34 on the road.

Royals vs. Pirates Pick: Pirates ML -109

Our prediction for today’s Royals vs. Pirates matchup is to take the Pirates on the money line, with the payout sitting at -109. We have the Pirates winning this one by a score of 5-4.

Looking at the starting pitchers, our projections have Michael Wacha going five innings and finishing with five strikeouts. As for the Pirates’ starter, Mitch Keller, we have him going six innings and also finishing with five K’s.