The Cincinnati Reds have captured the eyes of many since calling up Elly De La Cruz from the minor leagues, but should also have the nation’s attention for entering their current road series with the Kansas City Royals being only four games out of the National League Central lead and have a golden opportunity for another win on Tuesday.
Cincinnati Reds vs. Kansas City Royals (-120, 9)
Getting the start on Tuesday for the Royals is Jordan Lyles, who has yet to lead the Royals to a victory, the team is 0-13 in his starts this season.
Of the 13 losses, 12 have come by multiple runs with Lyles surrendering at least four runs in 11 of his last 12 starts, posting a 6.84 ERA with a league-high 18 home runs allowed this season,
The backup for Lyles has not been of much help either with the Royals entering the series with the league’s second-worst bullpen ERA at 5.01 while the Reds are 12th in this category.
The Reds are turning to rookie Brandon Williamson for the start, who’s led the team to victories in four of his five starts, but is far from an ace with a 5.40 ERA and 6.20 fielding independent, allowing two home runs and 4.4 walks per nine innings.
Fortunately for Williamson, he faces a Royals lineup that is 28th among the 30 MLB teams in runs per game and last in on-base percentage and entered the series having scored three runs or fewer in 10 of their last 13 games.
The Reds offense has struggled to generate deep shots, ranking last in the league in home runs per game on the road, but entered the series leading the league in road on-base percentage with over 4.6 runs per game, which is 10th in the league.
The struggles of Jordan Lyles have the Royals in danger of finish the season with a record worse than that of the Oakland Athletics and on Tuesday, the Reds will prolong Lyles” tough start to the season.
The Play: Reds +100
