The Kansas City Royals (42-47) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (43-45) will finish up their three game series of interleague play on Sunday afternoon in this Royals vs. Diamondbacks prediction. The first game of the series was played on Friday with the Royals winning 9-3. This will be the only series played between these teams this season. Kansas City will start Michael Lorenzen (4.95 ERA) with Arizona going with Anthony DeSclafani (4.82 ERA). First pitch is set for 4:10 EST. Keep reading to see our Royals vs. Diamondbacks prediction, and keep up with all of our winning MLB Picks!
Kansas City Wins Big on Friday
The Kansas City Royals opened this series with a strong win, they scored six runs over the first two innings and never looked back in the 9-3 win. The Royals are in the middle of the AL Central, packed in a tight race with Minnesota and Cleveland. They are in third place, and just a half game behind the Twins in second, and a half game ahead of the Guardians in fourth, with the Tigers way out ahead. In Friday's game, Vinnie Pasquantino hit two home runs in the win.
Pasquantino was batting third in the lineup as their first baseman, and accumulated six RBIs in his big performance. The 27-year-old is in his fourth season with the team, and is leading the squad in home runs with 14 and RBIs with 55. He is batting .271 at the plate this season. Bobby Witt Jr. just missed out on a starting spot in the All-Star Game to Jacob Wilson from the Athletics. Witt leads the team with 103 hits, leading to a .293 batting average to go with 11 home runs and 47 RBIs while batting second as their shortstop. Salvador Perez had an RBI on Friday, he is a catcher by trade but took the DH spot Friday while batting fifth. Perez has nine home runs and 49 RBIs on the year.
Michael Lorenzen will make his 18th start of the season as a 33-year-old right-hander. He has a 4-8 record, with the team going 3-2 overall in his last five starts. His ERA is 4.95 to go with 78 strikeouts against 28 walks. In his last start, Lorenzen gave up three earned runs in 4.2 innings in a win over the Mariners.
Diamondbacks Lose Three Straight
The Arizona Diamondbacks are headed into Saturday with a three game losing streak, as they dropped their last two against the Giants, and now lost their first game here against the Royals. They have fallen to fourth in the difficult NL West, 12.5 games behind the Dodgers at the top, and 3.5 games behind the Giants who sit in third. They scored two runs in the first inning on Friday, but still fell 9-3 as they could not keep up with Kansas City's offense.
Eugenio Suarez had two RBIs in Friday's loss, he is having an excellent season, but unfortunately plays the same position as Shohei Ohtani, so he missed out on starting in the All-Star Game. Suarez is fourth in the MLB in home runs with 28 home runs and third in RBIs with 72. The 33-year-old is in his second season with the team after bouncing around the league with stops in Detroit, Cincinnati and Cleveland. Ketel Marte will start the All-Star Game at second base, he has 19 home runs and 40 RBIs on the season while batting from the leadoff spot. Corbin Carroll is having a strong season, but it was recently derailed by a wrist injury, and he will be out for this game.
Anthony DeSclafani will make his first start of the season, after making four appearances out of the bullpen. The 35-year-old veteran has a 4.82 ERA this season and started 18 games for the Giants last year. In his last appearance, he pitched two innings against the Giants giving up just one hit and no earned runs.
Best Bets for Kansas City Royals vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Full-Game Side Bet
Insiders Status:
The Royals' offense got hot in Arizona on Friday, and will keep it up here going against the 35-year-old DeSclafani who is making his first start of the season. He is not a regular starter and has only hit the mound four times this season. Not all of those appearances have gone well, as he gave up two home runs in just two innings against the Blue Jays earlier this year. The Royals are sending out Lorenzen, and he has been a part of the rotation all season. The Royals top hitters are all healthy including Witt, Pasquantino and Perez, while Arizona is still dealing with injuries, including Corbin Carroll's wrist injury. Kansas City has the better pitcher and the healthier lineup, they will leave Arizona with another win.
Take the Royals to win.
Full-Game Total Pick
Insiders Status:
It is difficult to trust either starting pitcher in this matchup, as they both have ERAs over 4.80, but have had very different seasons. DeSclafani is hitting the mound for just the fifth time this season, and all of his other appearances were in relief as he only pitched a few innings at a time. This could also signify a bullpen game, as the Royals may throw several pitchers out to the mound, while none of them get in a real rhythm. Lorenzen has been starting all season for Kansas City, but he has given up two or more earned runs in each of his last five starts, and never struck out more than seven. Arizona has gone over in nine of their last 11 and will go over again here.
Take the over.
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