Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals Predictions, MLB Picks, Betting Tips 8/9/2020

Game: Minnesota Twins vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Sunday, August 9, 2020

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: FSN/FSKC

Odds/Point Spread: Twins (-174) Royals (+160)

Whit Merrifield and the Kansas City Royals (5-10, 5th in AL Central) play the Minnesota Twins (10-4, 1st in AL Central) at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday. The Twins open this matchup at -174 while the Royals are coming in at +160. The total opens at 9. The men taking the mound will be Jose Berrios and Brady Singer.

Key Minnesota Twins Injuries

8/7/2020 Josh Donaldson 3B Calf Expected to be out until at least Aug 14
8/7/2020 Homer Bailey SP Biceps Expected to be out until at least Aug 16
8/6/2020 Willians Astudillo C Not Injury Related Expected to be out until at least Aug 10
8/4/2020 Rich Hill SP Shoulder Expected to be out until at least Aug 14
8/1/2020 Zack Littell RP Hamstring Expected to be out until at least Aug 11

Key Kansas City Royals Injuries

8/8/2020 Mike Montgomery SP Lat Expected to be out until at least Sep 15
8/8/2020 Randy Rosario RP Arm Expected to be out until at least Aug 11
8/8/2020 Franchy Cordero RF Wrist Expected to be out until at least Aug 9
8/8/2020 Nick Heath DH Hamstring Expected to be out until at least Aug 21
8/7/2020 Glenn Sparkman RP Forearm Expected to be out until at least Sep 18
8/7/2020 Josh Staumont RP Back Probable for Aug 8
8/5/2020 Bubba Starling CF Undisclosed Expected to be out until at least Aug 15
8/2/2020 Hunter Dozier 3B Illness Expected to be out until at least Aug 14
7/31/2020 Foster Griffin RP Forearm Out for the season
7/16/2020 Kelvin Gutierrez 3B Elbow Expected to be out until at least Sep 1

Useful Pitching Statistics

The Twins have a 10-4 overall record this season. Berrios (44-35 career record) has earned a FIP of 4.13 while facing 2,600 hitters in the major leagues. His ERA is 4.23 (287 earned runs allowed) and his WHIP is 1.265. He has given up 572 base hits (8.4 hits per 9 innings) and has 201 walks. Berrios has thrown 611 innings and has totaled 598 strikeouts during his MLB career. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.21 and they have given up 45 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .197 against the bullpen and they've struck out 68 hitters and walked 21 batters. As a team, Minnesota allows 6.7 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.5 batters per nine innings. They are 4th in the league in team earned run average at 2.99. The Twins pitchers collectively have given up 92 base hits and 41 earned runs. They have allowed 14 home runs this season, ranking them 19th in the league. Minnesota as a pitching staff has walked 42 batters and struck out 117. They have walked 3.1 men per 9 innings while striking out 8.5 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.09 and their FIP as a unit is 3.65.

Related: Get MLB predictions on all of today's games

Hitting Statistics

As a team Minnesota is hitting .230, good for 17th in the league. The Twins hold a .409 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .310, which is good for 17th in baseball. They rank 17th in MLB with 7.4 hits per game. Jorge Polanco is hitting .309 with an on-base percentage of .345. He has 17 hits this season in 55 at bats with 5 runs batted in. He has a slugging percentage of .382 and an OPS+ of 109. Nelson Cruz is hitting .365 this year and he has an on-base percentage of .411. He has totaled 19 hits and he has driven in 15 men in 52 at bats. His OPS+ is 185 while his slugging percentage is at .596. The Twins have 103 hits, including 14 doubles and 22 home runs. Minnesota has walked 47 times so far this season and they have struck out 113 times as a unit. They have left 78 men on base and have a team OPS of .720. They score 5 runs per contest and have scored a total of 70 runs this year.

Useful Pitching Statistics

Kansas City has a 5-10 overall mark this year. Singer (0-1) is the owner of a 4.80 ERA and has surrendered 7.8 hits per 9 innings. He has a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.00 and he has faced 61 opposing batters. Singer has conceded 13 hits while he has earned 18 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched. He has given up 8 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.267 and having a FIP of 5.5. The bullpen has an earned run average of 3.31 and they have given up 66 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .221 against the Royals bullpen. Their relievers have struck out 68 batters and walked 27 opposing hitters. As a team, Kansas City allows 8.5 hits per nine innings while striking out 8.7 batters per nine innings. They are 12th in the league in team earned run average at 3.95. The Royals pitchers as a team have surrendered 123 base knocks and 57 earned runs this season. They have given up 20 home runs this year, which ranks 4th in Major League Baseball. Kansas City as a staff has walked 51 hitters and struck out 126 batters. They give up a walk 3.5 times per 9 innings while they strike out 8.7 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.34 while their FIP as a staff is 4.49.

Hitting Statistics

As a team, they are batting .251, good for 7th in the league. The Royals hold a .418 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .293, which is good for 26th in baseball. They rank 5th in MLB with 8.7 hits per contest. Whit Merrifield comes into this matchup batting .283 with an OBP of .338. He has 17 hits this year along with 11 RBI in 60 AB's. He maintains a slugging percentage of .533 with an OPS+ of 143. Salvador Perez is hitting .290 this season and he has an OBP of .302. He has collected 18 hits in 62 at bats while driving in 7 runs. He has an OPS+ of 111 and a slugging percentage of .452. The Royals as a unit have 130 base hits, including 34 doubles and 16 homers. Kansas City has walked 26 times this year and they have struck out on 125 occasions. They have had 91 men left on base and have an OPS of .711. They have scored 4.07 runs per game and totaled 61 runs this season.

Who will win tonight's Twins/Royals MLB game against the spread?

Guy's Pick: Take the Royals (+160)

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