On Opening Day, the Minnesota Twins are visiting the Kansas City Royals, at 4:10 PM ET on Thursday.
The Royals are an underdog at home (+101) against the Twins (-120). The Twins will give the ball to Pablo Lopez against the Royals and Cole Ragans.
Here’s what you need to get ready for Thursday’s Twins vs. Royals contest, including viewing options.
Minnesota Twins vs. Kansas City Royals odds and betting lines
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Thursday at 3:16 AM ET. For a full list of Sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub.
- Favorite: Twins (-120, bet $120 to win $100)
- Underdog: Royals (+101, bet $100 to win $101)
- Over/under: 8
Twins vs. Royals: Live streaming info & game time
- Game Day: Thursday, March 28, 2024
- Game Time: 4:10 PM ET
- Stadium: Kauffman Stadium
- TV Channel: Bally Sports
- Live Stream: Fubo (Watch for free)
Twins stats and trends
Twins betting records
- Last season, the Twins won 69 out of the 116 games, or 59.5%, in which they were favored.
- Last season Minnesota won 63 of its 106 games, or 59.4%, when favored by at least -120 on the moneyline.
- The implied probability of a win by the Twins, based on the moneyline, is 54.5%.
- Games involving Minnesota went over the total set by oddsmakers in 84 of 168 chances last season.
- In 168 games with a spread last season, the Twins were 84-84-0 ATS.
Pablo Lopez (Twins probable starter)
- Lopez starts for the first time this season for the Twins.
- When he last appeared on Monday, Oct. 9, the 28-year-old right-hander started the game and went seven scoreless innings against the Houston Astros.
- In 32 games last season he finished with an 11-8 record and had a 3.66 ERA and a 1.155 WHIP.
- Among qualified pitchers in MLB last year he ranked 23rd in ERA (3.66), 17th in WHIP (1.155), and fifth in K/9 (10.9).
Twins batting stats
- The Twins ranked third in Major League Baseball with 233 home runs.
- With a .428 team slugging percentage, Minnesota ranked seventh in the majors last season.
- Among all 30 MLB clubs, the Twins ranked 21st with a .243 team batting average.
- With 778 runs scored last season, Minnesota ranked No. 10 in all of baseball.
- The Twins had the 11th-ranked on-base percentage in MLB last season (.326).
- Minnesota ranked last in strikeouts per game (10.2) among MLB offenses.
Royals stats and trends
Royals betting records
- The Royals were chosen as underdogs in 139 games last year and walked away with the win 49 times (35.3%) in those games.
- Last season, Kansas City came away with a win 48 times in 134 chances when named as an underdog of at least +101 or worse on the moneyline.
- Bookmakers have implied with the moneyline set for this matchup that the Royals have a 49.8% chance of pulling out a win.
- Kansas City and its opponents hit the over in 79 of its 160 games with a total last season.
- The Royals went 73-87-0 against the spread in their 160 games that had a posted line last season.
Cole Ragans (Royals probable starter)
- Ragans makes his first start of the season for the Royals.
- The 26-year-old left-hander started and threw 6 1/3 innings when he last appeared Thursday, Sept. 28 against the Detroit Tigers.
- Over his 29 appearances last season he finished with a 7-5 record and had a 3.47 ERA and a 1.156 WHIP.
Royals batting stats
- The Royals hit 163 home runs last season, the fifth-lowest total in MLB play.
- A season ago, Kansas City ranked 21st in baseball with a slugging percentage of .398.
- With a .244 batting average a year ago, the Royals ranked 19th in the majors.
- Last season Kansas City was the 23rd-highest scoring team in baseball, averaging 4.2 runs per game (676 total).
- A year ago, the Royals ranked 28th in baseball with a .303 on-base percentage.
- The club’s 8.6 strikeouts per game ranked 15th in baseball.
