Kansas City Royals vs Boston Red Sox Prediction, Preview and Odds - 07/12/2024

Game Time: 7:10 pm ET, Friday, July 12, 2024

Venue:  Fenway Park, Boston, MA 

Where to Watch:  NESN

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds:  Royals -118, Red Sox -102; Over/Under:  9 runs

Bet365:  Moneyline odds:  Royals -120, Red Sox +100; Over/Under:  9 runs

BetMGM:  Moneyline odds:  Royals -120, Red Sox +100; Over/Under:  9 runs

Kansas City Royals:  51-43 (3rd place, AL Central)

Boston Red Sox:  50-41 (3rd place, AL East)

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Kansas City Royals:  5-5 last 10

Boston Red Sox:  7-3 last 10

The Royals are entering this series off a win and completed the sweep in their 2-game series against the St Louis Cardinals 2-0 in their last series. They enter this game with a 51-43 record overall and have a road record of 20-25. This is the series opener of a 3-game series with the Red Sox on Friday and they have Thursday off as a day of rest. Their offense ranks 13th in the MLB with a .712 OPS. Michael Wacha was their starting pitcher on Wednesday while Cole Ragans is making his start in this game on Friday. He is 5-6 with a 3.28 ERA this season. His team lost their last 2 straight games this season with him making an appearance. In his last MLB regular season start, he allowed 2 ER, 1 HR, and 3 BB with 8 Ks on 5 hits through 7 IP against the Colorado Rockies.

The Red Sox won their 3-game series against the New York Yankees 2-1 in their last series. They enter this game with a 50-41 record overall and have a home record of 21-24. This is the 1st game of a 3-game series with the Royals on Friday with the series finale of their series against the Oakland Athletics still to be played on Thursday. The Red Sox won the 1st game of that series on Tuesday and lost the 2nd game on Wednesday. Their offense ranks 7th in the MLB with a .743 OPS. Tanner Houck is their starting pitcher on Thursday while Josh Winckowski is making his start in this game on Friday. He is 2-1 with a 3.27 ERA this season. His team lost their last 2 straight games this season with him making an appearance. In his last MLB regular season appearance, he allowed 1 earned run, 0 homers, and 1 BB with 1 strikeout on 2 hits through 2.1 innings played against the Oakland Athletics.

The current betting odds have the Royals listed as a slight favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Royals have looked good in their games this season with their 51-43 record overall which has them in 3rd place of the AL Central and fighting for a Wild Card spot. They haven't looked as good in their road games though, going 20-25 in road games this season. Meanwhile, the Red Sox have looked good in their games this season with their 50-41 record overall which has them in 3rd place of the AL East and fighting for a Wild Card spot too. They have looked worse in their home games this year, going 21-24 in their home games. The Red Sox got off to a terrible start this season and have played themselves back into the playoff race, but they don't have a favorable pitching matchup here in this game at home where they have been worse this season. They have Winckowski starting in this one and he is 2-1 with a 3.27 ERA. He only gave up 1 earned run in his last appearance, but that was as a reliever. He isn't really a true starting pitcher and has struggled in that role this season. Even if he does pitch well here, he won't go deep into this game and the Red Sox bullpen hasn't been great lately either. The Royals are going to have a true starter on the mound here with Ragans and he has been solid this year. He is 5-6 with a 3.28 ERA and hasn't been giving up many runs. His team has lost 2 games in a row with him starting, but he only gave up 2 earned runs in his last start and that has been a common theme for him this year so the Royals are due to bounce back with him on the mound here. The best way to place a bet here is on the Royals to win this game.

Royals Red Sox Prediction:  Our MLB Pick for Friday, July 12, 2024 (7:10 pm ET start time) is Royals 7 Red Sox 4.

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Kansas City Royals: 49-37 (+4.95 units) on the runline in their last 86 games. 38-33 (+2.25 units) on the runline in their last 71 games. 8-3 to the over with their first 5 team total in their last 11 games. 

Boston Red Sox: 36-46 (-16.45 units) on the runline in their last 86 games. 27-33 (-8.15 units) on the first 5 moneyline in their last 60 games. 30-19 to the over in their last 49 games. 

Kansas City Royals:  D. Altavilla (RP) Mid Sep - Oblique. K. Wright (SP) out for season - Shoulder. J. Taylor (RP) Late June - Bicep. J. Lyles (SP) Out indefinitely - Personal.

Boston Red Sox:  C. Martin (RP) Out indefinitely - Elbow. L. Hendriks (RP) Early August - Elbow. G. Whitlock (RP) Out indefinitely - Oblique. C. Murphy (RP) out for season - Elbow. B. Mata (SP) Out indefinitely - Hamstring. V. Grissom (2B) Out indefinitely - Hamstring. L. Giolito (SP) out for season - Elbow. T. Casas (3B) Out indefinitely - Ribs. T. Story (2B) out for season - Shoulder.

“He makes us go. The middle of the order is big for us and no one is bigger than Salvy.” - Matt Quatraro after his team’s double-header against the Cardinals on Wednesday.

“That inning, he lost it. Couldn’t throw strikes. We put ourselves in a bad spot. But overall, the eight strikeouts, or whatever it was, after that he found it and he was really good. Toward the end, we pushed him there. But overall, a good one. But in that inning, mechanics or whatever it was, he was off.” - Alex Cora after his team’s loss against the A’s in their game on Wednesday.

M Garcia (R) 2B

B Witt Jr. (R) SS

V Pasquantino (L) 1B

S Perez (R) C

H Renfroe (R) RF

F Fermin (R) DH

M Melendez (L) LF

N Loftin (R) 3B

G Hampson (R) CF

J Duran (L) CF

R Refsnyder (R) LF

T O'Neill (R) RF

R Devers (L) 3B

C Wong (R) C

R Gonzalez (R) 1B

M Yoshida (L) DH

J Westbrook (R) 2B

C Rafaela (R) SS

Batting Average:  Bobby Witt (.325)

Hits:  Bobby Witt (122)

Home Runs:  Salvador Perez (16)

RBI:  Bobby Witt (62)

Stolen Bases:  Bobby Witt (22)

Wins:  Seth Lugo (11)

Saves:  James McArthur (17)

ERA:  Jordan Lyles (0.00)

Batting Average:  Connor Wong (.309)

Hits:  Jarren Duran (107)

Home Runs:  Rafael Devers (21)

RBI:  Rafael Devers (58)

Stolen Bases:  David Hamilton (23)

Wins:  Brayan Bello (9)

Saves:  Kenley Jansen (18)

ERA:  Brennan Bernardino (1.72)

Managers:

Kansas City Royals: Matt Quatraro (2nd season)

Boston Red Sox: Álex Cora (4th season)