Royals surprise contenders: Baseball odds preview
The Kansas City Royals made some upgrades over the off-season and so far things are working out; KC sits just a half-game out of first place in the AL Central.
This weekend the Royals get a chance to prove themselves worthy of at least mention when it comes to contender status when they host the AL East-leading New York Yankees for three games at Kauffman Stadium, starting Friday night.
KC just dropped two of three games in Baltimore, but before that the Royals hadn't lost a series since losing two of three to Toronto nearly a month ago. So in its quest for its first winning season in a decade KC is off to an 18-13 start and this is reflected in the MLB betting odds for their weekend action.
That start has also helped Royals backers pocket a profit of $580 so far this season, based on those theoretical $100 wagers on each game.
New York, meanwhile, has coped well without the likes of Derek Jeter, A-Rod, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson to win 20 of its first 33 games. So the Yanks enter the weekend tied for first place in the AL East with Boston and Baltimore.
As of Friday morning baseball betting outlets were listing KC as a -135 favorite to win this series, with New York getting +115. Also, the OVER/UNDER on total runs for this series was proffered at 25.
Also this weekend around MLB betting the AL Central-leading Tigers were -280 favorites for their series against the 18-14 Indians (+230); the 21-14 Orioles, part of that three-way tie atop the AL East, were -115 favorites for their series at the 16-15 Twins (-105); the NL Central-leading Cardinals were favored by -240 for their series at home over the 19-15 Rockies; and the 16-18 Padres, who have won 11 of their last 14 games, were lined as +165 underdogs for their inter-league series at the 16-18 Rays.
