There are a full 15 MLB games on Saturday’s slate with plenty of action across the day. At 3:07 p.m. EST, the Toronto Blue Jays (64-47) take on the Kansas City Royals (50-60) at Rogers Centre. After one of the AL’s top teams suffered an upset in last night’s series opener, this should be an intriguing matchup to check in on as an appetizer to the rest of your MLB betting cards later this afternoon.
Here’s a Blue Jays vs. Royals prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for game two of this series on Saturday.
Blue Jays vs. Royals prediction, preview
Last night’s result was a somewhat surprising one to open this series since Toronto still sits atop the American League entirely, not just their own division. Kansas City pulled off a surprising upset, though, with 11 hits overall in a convincing 9-3 victory. Nine different players all recorded a hit for the Royals, including Trade Deadline acquisition Mike Yastrzemski, who started his tenure with a two-run homer.
It was a somewhat rare explosion on offense for a Royals lineup which hasn’t exactly excelled this season. While the team hasn’t hit well for average even on their 8-5 run after the All-Star Game, they limit strikeouts and sit just inside the top 10 in OPS at .774 with the sixth-most runs scored.
Toronto, meanwhile, has actually outperformed that scoring total with the third-most runs in baseball since the All-Star break, as well as the second-highest batting average and OPS at .298 and .848. They’re still 9-6 over that sample, so the Blue Jays remain one of the top teams in the sport and should bounce back today.
However, they don’t face an easy matchup on the mound against left-handed Royals rookie Noah Cameron (2.44 ERA, 1.00 ERA, 71 SO) who’s in the midst of a very impressive debut campaign. He takes on an experienced veteran in Max Scherzer (4.89 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 39 SO), who’s appeared in just seven games this season.
Blue Jays vs. Royals pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Blue Jays as -144 favorites on the Moneyline at home on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Royals are +119 underdogs to win outright with a run total of eight.
This looks like a spot in which the Blue Jays should get back on the right foot, so I’m projecting Toronto to win despite a tough pitching matchup against Cameron. However, there’s more value to be found in the pitcher props for today than via game lines, so I’m going with a prop pick for the Royals’ rookie hurler here.
Cameron averaged 5.5 strikeouts per contest over his last 10 starts dating back to June 5. While he’s not known as a strikeout-heavy guy, the 26-year-old put together more punchouts than usual over his last few outings. Cameron tallied at least six strikeouts in each of his last four starts with tallies of six, seven. eight and seven, and he went for five strikeouts on July 2 as well. His over/under is set at 4.5 today with plus-value on the over, a mark he eclipsed in five straight starts and seven of his last 10. Capitalize on that value while you can.
Best bet: Noah Cameron over 4.5 strikeouts (+115)
Click the odds on this bet to tail!
