Royals vs Pirates Prediction & MLB Odds For Sunday, September 15th

Brady Singer will start for the Royals on Sunday, as they look to keep their two-game winning streak alive. They are 82-67 this season and their favored on the money line today, with the odds sitting at -108. Kansas City is 2nd in the AL Central. Jared Jones will be on the mound for the Pirates, who are 5th in the NL Central. Jones and the Pirates are looking to snap a two-game losing streak.

Sunday’s interleague matchup between the Royals and Pirates is set to get started at 1:35 PM ET from PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The over/under line is currently at 8 runs, and the game will be televised on BSKC.

Betting Odds & Lines for this Game

• Spread: Royals -1.5 (+155) | Pirates 1.5 (-193)
• Total: 8
• MoneyLine: Royals -108 | Pirates -110

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

Royals vs. Pirates Prediction: Moneyline

Thanks to a two-run 5th inning for the Royals’ offense, they cruised to a 5-1 win over the Pirates in the most recent game of this series. Heading into the game, the Royals were favored at -118 on the money line.

The starting pitching matchup for this game featured Michael Wacha for the Royals, and he went just five innings while giving up one run and picked up the win. Mitch Keller got the start for the Pirates, going six innings and giving up three earned runs.

Kansas City got a huge performance from Bobby Witt Jr., as he went 2/3 with a home run and three RBIs. Both Jared Triolo and Bryan Reynolds each had two hits for the Pirates’ offense.

Kansas City is 82-67 overall and 2nd in the AL Central, three games behind the Guardians for the division lead. The Royals have gone 33-16 against other teams in the AL Central. They have won two straight games, and they have taken the first two games of this series vs. the Pirates. So far, they have an overall series record of 21-24-2.

At home, the Royals have gone 45-30 this year, and they are an even 37-37 on the road. As the favorite, the Royals are 47-26 this year, and they are 35-41 when going into a game as the underdog. Kansas City’s longest win streak as the favorite is four games, and they have won two straight as the road favorite.

Pittsburgh is 70-78 overall, and they are 16 games behind the Brewers in the NL Central. The Pirates have gone 22-20 against other teams in the NL Central. So far, they have dropped the first two games of their series vs. the Royals. This year, they are 37-40 at home compared to 33-38 on the road.

As the underdog, the Pirates are 37-51 this year and 33-27 as the favorite. Pittsburgh has lost two straight games as the underdog, and they are 20-21-6 in series this year. At home, they are 15-19 as the underdog.

Royals vs. Pirates Prediction: Over/Under

When the Royals are on the road, the over/under line is set at 8 runs, which is below their season average of 8.8 runs per game. Overall, the over/under record for Kansas City is 66-78, and when the line is set at 8 runs, they have gone 14-15-3. This season, 61.7% of their games have had higher over/under lines than 8 runs, with 92 games having higher lines, while 25 games have had lower lines.

Salvador Perez and Bobby Witt Jr. have been two of the league’s top run producers this season, as they are both tied for 6th in the league with 102 RBIs. Witt Jr. has also been one of the team’s top power threats, as his 31 homers are 10th in the league and the best mark on the Royals. Witt Jr. comes into the game on a seven-game hitting streak, while Perez has also been swinging a hot bat of late, going 9/28 in his last eight games.

As a team, the Royals are 10th in the league in scoring at 4.7 runs per game. They have been even better at home, averaging 5 runs per contest. Overall, they are batting .253, which is the 6th best mark in the league. Kansas City is also one of the toughest teams in the league to strike out and have the 2nd fewest strikeouts in the league.

Tonight’s game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals has an over/under line of 8 runs. The combined run average for Pirates games this season is 8.8 runs, and their over/under record is 73-73. The average over/under line for Pirates games is 8 runs, and their record when the line is set at 8 runs is 16-17. This season, 50.7% of Pirates games have had over/under lines set at 8 runs, while 27.0% have had lines set below that number.

As a team, the Pirates are averaging 4.2 runs per game, which is 21st in the league. At home, they are averaging 4.3 runs per game, which is 14th in the league. So far, they have been one of the worst home run hitting teams in the league, coming in 23rd in the league. Pittsburgh’s team batting average is .236, and they are also near the bottom of the league in terms of on-base percentage and OPS.

Bryan Reynolds comes into the game with a five-game hitting streak and is batting .282 for the season with a team-high 22 home runs. Over his last five games, he has gone 9/19. Andrew McCutchen is 4/14 over his last four games and is batting .239 for the season with 20 homers.

Royals vs. Pirates Prediction: Spread

The Royals have been a solid bet on the run line this season, going 84-65 overall. They are 41-33 on the run line on the road, and they have covered the run line in their last four road games. Kansas City’s average run margin this season is +0.7 runs per game.

Brady Singer gets the start for the Royals today as he faces the Pirates on the road. He has made 29 starts this season and has a record of 9-10 with an ERA of 3.42. Singer’s WHIP for the season is currently 1.25. Looking at his overall numbers, Singer has turned in 12 quality starts, and his ERA at home is 3.1 compared to 4.53 on the road. In his last outing, Singer finished with a no-decision, giving up three earned runs in five innings of work. Before that, he had given up five earned runs in back-to-back starts.

Despite a run line record of 38-39 at home, the Pirates have been a profitable bet on the run line overall this season at 81-67. They have covered the run line in 43 of 71 road games, including going 2-0 in their last two. They have been a better bet as an underdog, going 57-31 vs. the run line.

Pittsburgh is sending Jared Jones to the mound today vs. the Royals, and he will be looking to build off his last outing, where he picked up the win. Against the Nationals, Jones went seven innings, giving up just two earned runs. Looking back over his last three outings, he has finished with a decision in each one. Jones’ record for the season is 6-7, and his ERA is 3.82. Opponents have hit .219 off Jones this season, and he has a total of 11 quality starts. Per nine innings, he is averaging 9.55 strikeouts and 2.58 walks.

Royals vs. Pirates Pick: Royals ML -108

Our predicted final score for this Royals vs. Pirates matchup is 5-4 in favor of the Royals. So, we recommend taking the Royals on the money line, where you can get them at -108.

Looking at the starting pitchers, we have Jared Jones finishing with more strikeouts than Brady Singer. However, we have Jones finishing with just four K’s, which is the third-lowest among all starters today. As for Singer, we have him finishing with five strikeouts.