As I glance outside my window, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and summertime is fully in the air. And what exactly does that mean? Friday Night Baseball at the K. Lucky for us, that’s exactly what we get tonight as the Cubs are in town to face the Royals. This is the one and only series between these two teams this season, and Kansas City gets to play host this time around.
Both teams are coming off two straight losses, and you could argue that both teams prefer to play on their home field based on their splits. Nevertheless, we do have two household names on the mound representing both teams, and does it get much better than Friday night baseball in the dog days of summer?
The visiting Cubs are 49-55 on the year, sitting in last place of the NL Central. They are just 2-4 since the All Star Break and 22-30 on the road this season. The Cubs had won 8 of 11 games leading up to the break, so they’d like to find that momentum again, but they did not perform well at home, and Kauffman is a tough place to visit. The Royals are fighting for Wild Card spots, as they sit in 3rd of the AL Central at 56-47. Kansas City is 35-20 at the K this year, and against the visiting Cubs, coming off two losses at home, shouldn’t they turn things around tonight?
Let’s dive into our best bets and find out!
Cubs vs Royals Game Information: Friday Night at Kauffman
Kyle Hendricks has had a rough season for the Cubs in 2024
Matchup Information – Cubs vs Royals
- Venue & Location: Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
- Date: Friday, July 26th, 2024
- First Pitch: 8:10pm Eastern
Cubs vs Royals Starting Pitchers
- Chicago Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (2-8, 6.69 ERA, 1.49 WHIP)
- Kansas City Royals: Brady Singer (6-6, 3.00 ERA, 1.22 WHIP)
Betting Odds
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Run Line
- Cubs +1.5 (-157)
- Royals -1.5 (+137)
Money Line
- Cubs +129
- Royals -140
Total
- Over 9 (-113)
- Under 9 (-107)
Will Singer Cruise Past Cubs at Home?
Brady Singer is coming off of 7 shutout innings in his last start
Like I mentioned earlier, both of these teams and pitchers prefer to be at home, but alas, the Royals receive that advantage tonight.
Brady Singer watches his ERA drop to 2.43, and his WHIP down to 1.01. He is coming off pitching 7 shutout innings last Saturday against the White Sox, where he allowed just 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7 batters. In his L3 starts at Kauffman Stadium, Singer is posting a 0.95 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. And the hitters love being home just as much as he does.
The Royals bat .250 as a team, .248 against RHP, but their average jumps to .271 at Kauffman. The Royals are also 7-1 on Friday Night home games this year. Sort of meaningless, but like I said, there’s magic at the ballpark on a hot, summer night. Kyle Hendricks does not have the stuff, and I think he gets shelled again tonight.
Hendricks Recent Struggles
Since the All Star Break, Hendricks made one start in Chicago, but it did not go well. He allowed 2 home runs to the Diamondbacks and picked up the loss in just 5 innings. He’s 2-8 on the year, and he’s lost 4 of his L5 outings. Now he did pitch 5 shutout innings in his last road start before the break, but his overall track record on the road isn’t all that great.
In his L5 outings, here’s how Hendricks stacks up.
- 24.2 Innings Pitched
- 5.20 ERA
- 1.32 WHIP
Now yes, that’s a slight improvement from his overall season statistics, but he’s still got to battle the best home hitting team in the league. I personally don’t think he’s got it, and I will certainly back the Royals at home on a Friday evening.
Chicago Cubs vs Kansas City Royals Best Bets
Bobby Witt hits .414 at home this season
Cubs vs Royals Prediction: Royals Win, Over 9
Best Bet: Royals TT Over 4.5 (-120) BetOnline
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It’s the Royals at home on a Friday Night. Need I say more? They are literally 7-1 in this scenario all year long, and the games haven’t been particularly close. The Royals have covered this number in all but one of their Friday night games at home, and even did so in their one loss. They have no problems scoring runs at home as they jump from scoring 4.63 per game to 5.24. The Cubbies struggle to score on the road, and against Singer who clearly has some Kauffman Magic in his pitches, I think tonight could get ugly. I lean with the over because I could see the Royals covering it by themselves, so I’ll back their TT for reasonable juice.
I’ll also sprinkle on their run line at +137 because I trust Singer to really shutdown the Cubs batters at home. The Cubs average drops slightly against RHP, and with Singer’s home splits, I see him taking over once again. Give the Royals to score 5 and win this game by 2 and let’s walk away with some cash!
Best Bet: Royals -1.5 (+137) BetOnline
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