At Kauffman Stadium on Saturday, the Chicago Cubs (three straight losses) face the Kansas City Royals at 7:10 PM ET.
The Royals are favored at home (-152) against the Cubs (+129). The Royals will give the ball to Seth Lugo (12-4) against the Cubs and Shota Imanaga (8-2).
These squads play again following the Royals’ 6-0 victory over the Cubs yesterday. Brady Singer (7.0 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 5 K) earned the win for the Royals. Salvador Perez went 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBI to lead the team on offense. Kyle Hendricks (5.0 IP, 6 R, 8 H, 4 K) was credited with the loss on the mound for the Cubs.
Ahead of the Royals vs. Cubs matchup, here’s everything you need to get ready for Saturday’s baseball action, including viewing options.
Kansas City Royals vs. Chicago Cubs odds and betting lines
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM WCyA68O3BbaEt9yGB5VKBOok. Odds updated Saturday at 3:16 PM ET. For a full list of Sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub.
- Favorite: Royals (-152, bet $152 to win $100)
- Underdog: Cubs (+129, bet $100 to win $129)
- Over/under: 9
Royals vs. Cubs: Live streaming info & game time
- Game Day: Saturday, July 27, 2024
- Game Time: 7:10 PM ET
- Stadium: Kauffman Stadium
- TV Channel: Bally Sports
- Live Stream: Fubo (Watch for free)
Royals stats and trends
Royals betting records
- This season, the Royals have been favored 43 times and won 29, or 67.4%, of those games.
- Kansas City has a record of 17-6 in games when sportsbooks favor them by at least -152 on the moneyline.
- The Royals have a 60.3% chance to win this game based on the implied probability of the moneyline.
- Games involving Kansas City have gone over the total set by oddsmakers in 42 of 104 chances this season.
- The Royals are 59-45-0 against the spread this season.
Seth Lugo (Royals probable starter)
- The Royals are sending Lugo (12-4) to make his 22nd start of the season. He is 12-4 with a 2.38 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 136 2/3 innings pitched.
- His most recent time out was on Sunday against the Chicago White Sox, when the right-hander went nine innings, surrendering one earned run while giving up three hits.
- In 21 games this season, the 34-year-old has an ERA of 2.38, with 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings. Opponents are batting .221 against him.
- Lugo has 16 quality starts this season.
- Lugo is aiming for his 22nd straight outing lasting five or more innings. He averages 6.5 innings per appearance on the mound.
- In five of his appearances this season he did not give up an earned run.
- The opposing Cubs offense has a collective .232 batting average, and is 24th in the league with 809 total hits and 24th in MLB action with 424 runs scored. It has the 24th-ranked slugging percentage (.373) and ranks 24th in home runs (102) in all of MLB.
- The 34-year-old’s 2.38 ERA ranks second, 1.037 WHIP ranks 13th, and 8.1 K/9 ranks 43rd among qualifying pitchers this season.
Royals batting stats
- The Royals’ 106 home runs rank 19th in Major League Baseball.
- Fueled by 302 extra-base hits, Kansas City ranks 11th in MLB with a .408 slugging percentage this season.
- The Royals rank 10th in MLB with a .251 team batting average.
- Kansas City has scored the 10th-most runs in the majors this season with 483.
- The Royals have an OBP of .309 this season, which ranks 17th in MLB.
- Kansas City is the best at avoiding strikeouts in MLB this season with only 706 as a team.
Cubs stats and trends
Cubs betting records
- The Cubs have been underdogs in 58 games this season and have come away with the win 26 times (44.8%) in those contests.
- Chicago has a win-loss record of 7-4 when favored by +129 or worse by bookmakers this year.
- The Cubs have an implied victory probability of 43.7% according to the moneyline set by oddsmakers for this matchup.
- Chicago’s games have gone over the total in 43 of its 105 opportunities.
- The Cubs are 46-58-0 against the spread in their 104 games that had a posted line this season.
Shota Imanaga (Cubs probable starter)
- The Cubs will send Imanaga (8-2) to make his 19th start of the season. He is 8-2 with a 2.86 ERA and 108 strikeouts over 104 2/3 innings pitched.
- His last appearance was on Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, when the lefty went seven innings, surrendering one earned run while allowing two hits.
- The 30-year-old has put up a 2.86 ERA and 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings across 18 games this season, while giving up a batting average of .233 to opposing batters.
- Imanaga is seeking his fifth straight quality start.
- Imanaga will look to extend a five-game streak of going five or more innings (he’s averaging 5.8 innings per appearance).
- In seven of his 18 total appearances this season he has not surrendered an earned run.
- The opposing Royals offense has the 11th-ranked slugging percentage (.408) and ranks 19th in home runs hit (106) in all of MLB. They have a collective .251 batting average, and are 13th in the league with 865 total hits and 10th in MLB action scoring 483 runs.
Cubs batting stats
- The Cubs average one home run per game to rank 24th in MLB play with 102 total home runs.
- This season, Chicago is 24th in the majors with a .373 slugging percentage.
- The Cubs have the 25th-ranked batting average in the league (.232).
- The offense for Chicago is the No. 24 offense in MLB, scoring four runs per game (424 total runs).
- The Cubs are 16th in MLB with an on-base percentage of .310.