The Kansas City Royals find themselves entering Wednesday with a record above .500 with a chance to ascend in the American League Central when they host the Toronto Blue Jays.
Toronto Blue Jays (-135, 9) vs. Kansas City Royals
Alec Marsh gets the start on the mound for Kansas City, who enters Wednesday with a 3.22 ERA and 3.14 fielding independent with reducing his home runs and walks allowed per nine innings from a season ago.
In his first taste of Major League Baseball last season, Marsh surrendered 4.7 walks and 1.9 home runs per nine innings and this season is allowing just two walks and 0.4 home runs per nine innings.
The Blue Jays counter with Yariel Rodriguez getting his third career MLB start, going a combined just 7 2/3 innings in his first two starts. Rodriguez has yet to lend a lot of length as the original plan was to have him pitch out of the bullpen, but the lack of effectiveness at the minor league level from Alek Manoah coupled with injuries pressed him into a starting role, where he’s allowed just two total runs, but both coming via solo home runs.
The bullpen backing up Rodriguez gets a boost with Erik Swanson and Jordan Ramano back after beginning the season on the injured list, but still entered Tuesday 25th among MLB teams with a 5.23 ERA while the Royals entered Tuesday 12th with a 3.63 ERA.
Additionally, the Blue Jays have had a difficult time generating offense when away from home, entering Tuesday 27th in the league in road batting average at .205 while their 3.9 runs per game on the road ranks 22nd.
With the Royals entering Tuesday second in the American League in runs per game at home with 5.7 and the Blue Jays likely needing to dive deep into their bullpen, the Royals will pick up a home win on Wednesday.
The Play: Royals +114
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