Game Time: 2:10 pm ET, Sunday, August 14th, 2022

Venue: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Where to Watch:  MLB.Tv (free)

 

DraftKings: Moneyline: Dodgers -213, Royals +185; O/U 8.5

BetMGM:  Moneyline:  

PointsBet:  Moneyline: 

 

Dodgers: 78-33, 1st place NL West

Royals: 47-67, 4th place AL Central

In game 1 of this series Friday night the Dodgers spanked the Royals 8-3 for the win on the moneyline AND ATS.  That made it 11 wins in a row of beating a team by 3 or more points.  That means 11 wins ATS in a row… I do not think I have ever seen an 11 game ATS win streak in baseball? That is pure dominance.  We are starting to see 2 and 2.5 run lines for Dodger games… and they keep surpassing it.  I have predicted all 11 Dodger wins on the moneyline (not a hard feat considering their line-up and pitching staff), but I only recommended parlaying the money line with a bet ATS twice in that span.  So, I have been right about the Dodgers over and over… but I could have made lots more money!  We now fall into a slippery territory… streaks are made to be broken.  We all know with baseball that eventually it will come to an end.  Someone will cover the spread… and someone will eventually beat the Dodgers in a regular season game… and that math says that will happen soon… unless we are about to see several new records land in the books.  The question is?... Will any of these streaks get snapped by the lowly Kansas City Royals during a lazy Sunday hot, summer, day game?  Let’s check the pitching matchup.   (This recommendation is for Sunday’s Game 3 of the series… the recommendation for Saturday's Game 2 was for the Dodgers to win on the moneyline) 

A non-conference matchup between the best in the National League West, and almost the worst in the American League Central.  The Dodgers are on a pure kill streak!  They have been mowing down opponents without the slightest bit of remorse or conscience.  It would be hard not to notice the Dodgers offense is a who’s who of All-Stars and former All-Stars.  It would also be hard not to notice that the Dodgers have the best pitching rotation in Major League Baseball.  Also August will be full of reinforcements for the pitching staff as multiple quality guys will be returning from the Injury List.  There are also solid rumors that the Dodgers are so stacked they may trade their red hot Minor League crop (they always have a few great guys) with one of the pitchers to land another big star!  The Dodgers have an embarrassment of riches… and they are in line to get a little richer. The Kansas City Royals have none of that. The Royals are a bad team in a bad division… The Royals farm system looks eerily similar to the toilet paper aisle at your grocery store a week into the Covid lockdown.   The Royals themselves, are pro players who have a chance in any game because of a lifetime spent playing baseball… but the offense and the pitching are pale comparisons to this particular foe.  No one will hold their breath waiting for a Royals win… However, the Royals do have 1 thing… The last time these teams played the Royals took the series 2-1, it was more than 3 seasons ago… but still?.  It was a horrible outcome for overconfident chalk-eaters who had ponied up big bets on a thin-return moneyline for the Dodgers.  Could that happen again?... Are the Royals the odd team that somehow has the Dodgers number?  No. No… So how much should we bet on the Dodgers? Even if you were taking the smaller moneyline return?... You would not have lost a bet in August yet… Think about that.  

The Los Angeles Dodgers have spent August cleaning the league… one sweep at a time!  They have won 10 of their last 10 games.  A perfect stretch with almost no end in sight.  Their moneyline numbers are insane in most matchups… oftentimes seeing -200 plus.  It’s hard to bet on the Dodgers because of that moneyline!  However… The Dodgers have beat the 1.5 - 2 run spread in 9 of the last 10 games!  Think about that.  You could have gotten even money returns in ten of ten games… My Land Rover has the sweetest gun metal gray finish you ever did see! They SWEPT the Minnesota Twins 2-0, they SWEPT the San Diego Padres 3-0, they SWEPT the San Francisco Giants 4-0, and went 1-0 against the Colorado Rockies during that stretch.  The closest score was a 3-0 win over the San Francisco Giants.  The stretch has also opened up possibilities of historic win total records dropping… There are plenty of games left for this version of Dodger Blue to make history.  They have lots of pitching and batting waiting in the wings in case anyone anywhere gets injured.  Wow!  This team will feel and look foolish if they fall short of a World Series win… which is a good and bad problem to have.

The Kansas City Royals have won 6 of their last 10 games.  They aren’t doormats no matter what you read in the paragraph above.  They do need lots of things to break their way in a Dodger matchup… but they have won some of these games before.  They went 2-1 against the Chicago White Sox, 3-1 against the Boston Red Sox, and 1-2 against the Chicago White Sox (again)... a 10 game stretch of all Sox!  The Royals have talent in their line-up with Salvador Perez, Michael Massey, and Nathan Eaton leading the team in homers, batting average, and OPS… The numbers are not terribly close to the Dodger leaders… but they are good.  The problem in KC is the pitching which is atrocious!  Still it’s 1 pitcher at a time as the starter… so we do have to check the numbers.

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LAD: 77-33, 1053 ML, 43-55-12 O/U, 37-18 O/U, 37-18 on the road.

KC: 46-66, -862 ML, 56-55-1 O/U, 27-32 in home games.

The Dodgers line-up is 1st in scoring with 5.35 runs per game, 3rd in batting average with .261, and 1st in OBP with .336.

The Royals line-up is 24th in scoring with 3.95 runs per game, 13th in bating average with .247, 20th in OBP with .310.  The kids do not hit well.

The Dodgers pitchers are 1st in ERA with 2.89, 1st in WHIP with 1.07, and 9th in fielding errors with 53 on the season so far.

The Royals pitchers are 27th in ERA with 4.62, 28th in WHIP with 1.45, and the fielders are 16th with 61 errors so far.

Our prediction for Sunday, August 14th is… Dodgers 6 - Royals 2

Yes, streaks are made to be broken… but not by the lousy KC Royals… not this year… not against the Dodgers!  Expect another Dodger win on the moneyline… and separately bet the Dodgers to win ATS. I avoid the O/U when good teams play bad teams.  The score can be much harder to predict/  Over the last ten games the Dodgers are 6 Over, 2 Under and 2 Push.  

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The Dodgers are 1625-1252 in  all games since 1997.

The Dodgers are 51-13 in August games the last 3 seasons.

The Dodgers are 8-0 this season after hitting .333 or better over a 3 game span. 

Dodgers: M Muncy (hand) Quest, but not anxious to miss ** 3B E Rios (hammy) late August (also trade bait) ** CF K Pillar (shoulder) Out

Royals: CF E. Olivares (quad) OUT ** SS A. Mondesi (Out) 

Dodgers: LHP Tyler Anderson, 13-1, 2.72 ERA, 97 strikeouts in 122 innings pitched. 1.00 WHIP.  Tyler is a full fledged ACE on the best staff in baseball.  “Mr Duck” is 32 with no end in sight.  He is Goliath out there.

Royals: RHP Brady Singer, 5-4, 3.49 ERA, 100 strikeouts in  98 innings pitched.  1.15 WHIP.  Brady is a solid 26 year old and may be the best the Royals have to offer up.  He will face a very tough assignment of trying to get through the Dodgers top-three of the line-up.

Dodgers: RF Mookie Betts, SS Trea Turner, 1B Freddie Freeman, C Will Smith, 3B Max Muncy, DH Justin Turner, 2B Gavin Lux, LF Chris Taylor, CF Cody Bellinger (please notice where former league MVP Cody Bellinger is batting)

Royals: LF MJ Melendez, 3B Bobby Witt JR, C Salvador Perez, DH Vinnie Pasquantino, RF Hunter Dozier, 1B Nick Pratto, 2B Michale Massey, CF Kyle Isbel, SS Nicky Lopez (little nicky)

Dodgers: Dave “Easy Street” Roberts

Royals: Mike “uphill slog” Matheny

Partly Cloudy and 91*, Humidity 54%, wind 8 mph.  The game will play through the hottest hours of the day 2pm-5pm (and possibly beyond).  The players will face heat and humidity and an unrelenting feeling of wanting to wrap it up and hit the showers.