Royals vs. Twins Series Betting Preview, DFS Plays – June 8 Thru 10
Gambling911.com has your Royals vs. Twins series betting and Daily Fantasy Sports plays for Monday through Wednesday of this week.
The Series:
There is no edge when it comes to the side or total in this series.
Recent Games:
The UNDER is 14-4-3 in Kansas City’s last nineteen games. The Royals have struggled over that period. There is no real advantage when it comes to the total for the Twins in recent games. Minnesota has split their last ten.
Monday Betting:
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals LH Jason Vargas (4-2, 4.79 ERA) vs. Twins RH Phil Hughes (4-5, 4.96)
Vargas has allowed more than two runs only twice this season, with the instances coming in back-to-back starts against Minnesota in which he yielded a total of 10 (nine earned) and 18 hits over 8 2/3 frames in April.
Hughes missed Kansas City the first two times the teams met but is 7-4 with a 5.06 ERA in 13 career games (12 starts) against the Royals.
Monday Daily Fantasy:
Alcides Escobar was 2-for-3 with two runs Sunday. He is 7-for-16 against Hughes. He had an RBI on Sunday as well.
Mike Moustakas went 2-for-4 Sunday including a double. He is just 5-for-22 against Hughes but with three doubles and a homer.
Alex Rios – He has hit in half of his last ten and is a solid 13-for-27 against Phil Hughes with four doubles and a homerun.
Brian Dozier of the Twins hit 2-for-4 on Saturday with two runs. He had a homer as well. Dozier is 5-for-18 vs Vargas with one double.
Joe Mauer went 2-for-4 on Saturday though he failed to produce on Sunday. He is 14-for-33 against Vargas with nine RBIs.
Eddie Rosario went 2-for-4 Saturday. He also had an RBI on Sunday.
Eduardo Nunez – Went 2-4 on Sunday. He is 5-for-15 vs. Vargas.
Tori Hunter – Has hit in nine of his last ten games. Hunter went 3-for-5 with a three-run homer and two runs scored last Thursday against Boston. He’s gone 16-for-44 against Vargas with a .333 ERA.
Tuesday Betting:
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Chris Young (4-2, 2.56) vs. Twins RH Trevor May (4-3, 4.45)
Tuesday Daily Fantasy:
Mike Moustakas went 2-for-4 Sunday including a double. He is just 5-for-22 against Hughes but with three doubles and a homer. He is 3-for-5 against May.
Salvador Perez was 2-for-4 on Saturday and hit one of four with a run on Sunday. Perez hit his seventh home run of the season. He is 3-for-5 with two RBIs against Trevor May.
Wednesday Betting:
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Edinson Volquez (4-4, 3.26) vs. Twins RH Kyle Gibson (4-3, 3.00)
Gibson gave up only one run to open the season against KC only to give up four against this same Royals team his next start.
Wednesday Daily Fantasy:
Alcides Escobar was 2-for-3 with two runs Sunday. He is 4-for-16 against Gibson.
Mike Moustakas went 2-for-4 Sunday including a double. He is 5-for-13 against Gibson.
Monday Night Game Preview From Carrie Stroup
KANSAS CITY ROYALS (31-23) at MINNESOTA TWINS (33-23)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Minnesota -103, Kansas City -107, Total: 8.5
The Kansas City Royals look to move into a tie for first place in the AL Central when they take on the Minnesota Twins on Monday night.
The Royals are on a mission to prove that their World Series run last year was no fluke and they currently sit in second in the AL Central by a single game. They have fallen on hard times of late after a great start, though, and are a mere 3-9 since May 24th with four straight series losses. Their most recent opponent was the Rangers and they narrowly avoided a sweep with a 4-3 victory on Sunday after scoring a meager two runs in the first two contests. The offense earned the runs despite going 0-for-7 with RISP as they hit five extra-base hits with one of them coming off the bat of 3B Mike Moustakas (.318) who leads the team in average, but has just one extra-base hit in the last 12 games.
The Twins are surprisingly the team currently sitting in front of Kansas City following a May in which they went 20-7. They have not been as hot in the first seven games of June, though, going 3-4 and avoiding a sweep at the hands of the Brewers with a 2-0 victory on Sunday afternoon. Two early runs backed the solid outing (8 IP, 0 ER, 8 H, 7 K) from starter Mike Pelfrey as the defense turned three double plays. OF Torii Hunter (.281) has been having an offensive resurgence with his old team and has been on base safely in each of the last 16 games.
Getting the call for the Royals will be LHP Jason Vargas (4-2, 4.79 ERA) as he takes on RHP Phil Hughes (4-5, 4.96 ERA) of the host Twins. Kansas City can’t be too excited to be back on the road with a record of 12-12 when away from home in 2015 as they face this Minnesota group which is 20-9 in front of its fans. This will be the 45th meeting between these two AL Central teams since the start of the 2013 campaign and in that time the Royals are 29-15 with a 14-9 record on the road. They have split the six games played this year with the home squad coming away with a series win each time.
Trends show that Kansas City is 93-69 (.574) against right-handed starters since the start of last season as the Twins have gone 15-7 (.682) when facing left-handed starters on the year. C Eric Kratz (Foot) of the Royals continues to ride the DL and will be joined by OF Jordan Schafer (Knee) of Minnesota in missing this contest.
Vargas has moved around quite a bit in his career as a Major League pitcher and has tallied at least 24 starts in each of the last five seasons as a part of three different clubs (Mariners, Angels, Royals). He has been successful in that time too, posting an ERA under 4.00 in three of the years, but has never been much of a strikeout pitcher with a career K/9 mark of 5.9. His control keeps him in games, but his 2.78 BB/9 so far this year is a career-high mark and has led to 1.26 HR/9 while contributing to his worst ERA since 2009. Despite his overall poor numbers on the year, the Royals are 4-1 in his last five outings as he’s given up eight earned runs over his past four starts (21 IP).
When facing the Twins in his career, the lefty is 5-4 (8-4 team record) with a 4.32 ERA (1.54 WHIP) and has seen his club get the win in four of his past five meetings with them. Both 1B Joe Mauer (14-for-33, 2 doubles, 9 RBI) and OF Torii Hunter (16-for-48, 6 doubles, 4 RBI) have had a ton of success against Vargas while 3B Trevor Plouffe and C Kurt Suzuki are a combined 13-for-66 (.197) with a homer and five RBI in the matchup.
The relievers for Kansas City have gone 11-4 with an amazing 1.75 ERA (1.04 WHIP) and are 16-for-25 (64%) in their save chances. Greg Holland (2.03 ERA, 9 saves) has one blown save in his 10 chances and has really struggled with eight walks in 13.1 innings of work.
Hughes was a different pitcher in his first year with the Twins, seeing his ERA drop from over 4.20 in the past three seasons to a nice 3.52 mark in 2015. That allowed him to earn 16 victories on a struggling Twins club as he also showed some of the best control in baseball with a mere 0.69 walks per nine innings. The impeccable control also put his homers allowed mark at a career-low 0.69 HR/9 while he struck out the most batters (8.0 K/9) since being a reliever in 2009. The performance has dipped drastically this year, though, and as he still shows some amazing control (0.9 BB), he is failing to strike out many batters (5.9 K/9). Following that has been plenty of home runs allowed (1.57 HR/9) and a bit of bad luck (.320 BABIP). He has struck out more than four batters in an outing just twice on the year, but has been able to pitch better lately with the Twins coming away victorious in four of his last six attempts on the mound.
He’s had plenty of experience against the Royals in his career, going 7-4 (8-4 team record) with a 5.14 ERA (1.38 WHIP) and has three quality starts against them in his last four tries; compiling an 18:2 K/BB ratio in that period. SS Alcides Escobar (6-for-17, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI) and OF Alex Gordon (9-for-30, 2 doubles, 4 RBI) have both had success against the 28-year-old in the past. On the other hand, OF Lorenzo Cain (1-for-8, 4 K), 1B Eric Hosmer (3-for-15), 3B Mike Moustakas (5-for-22, 3 doubles, 1 HR, 2 RBI) and C Salvador Perez (3-for-17, 1 double, 4 K) have struggled against the righty.
It hasn’t been the best of seasons for the Minnesota bullpen as they are 9-8 with a 3.74 ERA (1.29 WHIP) and are an impressive 23-for-26 (88%) in save opportunities. Glen Perkins (1.67 ERA, 21 saves) has yet to blow a save on the year while leading the AL in the category and has a solid 24:4 K/BB ratio in his 27 frames.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
