Cleveland Indians at Kansas City Royals odds, picks and best bets

Geoff Clark | USA Today Sportsbookwire

The Cleveland Indians (21-13) visit the Kansas City Royals (13-21) Monday for the opener of a three-game set in Kauffman Stadium at 8:05 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Indians-Royals MLB betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.

Indians at Royals: Projected starting pitchers

RHPShane Biebervs. RHPBrad Keller

Bieber in 2020: 6-0 with a 1.35 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 14.5 K/9 (MLB's best) and 1.7 BB/9 in 46⅔ IP over 7 starts.

Last start: Win, 6 IP with 4 H, 2 ER, 10 K and 3 BB in a 4-2 win vs. the Minnesota Twins Tuesday.
Career vs. Royals: 4-0 with a 4.33 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 43 K and 10 BB in 35⅓ IP over 6 starts.

Keller in 2020: 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 7.6 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9 in 21 ⅔ IP over 4 GS.

Last start: Loss, 4 IP with 6 H, 5 ER, 4 K and 3 BB in a 9-3 loss at St. Louis Cardinals Aug. 24.
Career vs. Indians: 2-1 with a 1.38 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 26 K and 9 BB in 26 IP over 6 G (4 GS).

Get some actionon this game or any other matchup with an MLB bet atBetMGMin NJ, IN, CO and WV. Bet now!

Indians at Royals: Key injuries

(Get the latest injury news here.)

Royals

RPIan Kennedy(calf) questionable
C Salvador Perez (eye) out

Also see:BaseballHQ Fantasy Baseball

Indians at Royals: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips

MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access Paste BN Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 2:13 p.m. ET.

Prediction

Royals 4, Indians 2

Moneyline (ML)

The Indians (-239) have won four of their last five games but lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 Sunday. Cleveland won its earlier season series against Kansas City 2-1 and have a 26-15 record against the Royals since 2018.

The Royals (+210) lost 5-2 in 10 innings at the Chicago White Sox Sunday, and dropped two of three in that series. Kansas City has struggled recently, going 3-7 in its last 10 games.

Bieber has been brilliant all season - he's definitely the AL Cy Young to this point of the year - and there's no reason to expect a bad outing against a Royals lineup that is below-average in runs per game, batting average, OBP and slugging percentage.

However, Keller had a 17 ⅔ IP scoreless streak recently snapped in his last outing and started the season with three straight wins, including twoquality starts.Let'sTAKE ROYALSfor a small wager and then get the run line for insurance.

New to sports betting? A $25 bet on the Royals pays a $52.50 profit if they win.

Run line/Against the spread (ATS)

Betting ROYALS +2.5 (- 134) is insurance on our ML wager partially based on the pitching matchup and Cleveland's lackluster hitting. The Indians -2.5 (+110) are bottom-10 in the majors in several hitting categories, even below the Royals in many of them.

A $67 wager on the Royals +2.5 pays a $50 profit if Kansas City wins or loses by two or fewer runs.

Over/Under (O/U)

The only fear I have betting the total is theUNDER 7.5 (-110)is a little too obvious. The pitching and hitting matchups line up perfectly. Also, the Under is 5-0-1 in the Royals' last six games as a home underdog and is 5-0-1 in the Royals' last six home games vs. a right-handed starter.

A $110 bet on Under 7.5 pays a $100 profit if the total of Indians-Royals is 7 or fewer runs.

Want some action on this game? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting tips and advice, visit SportsbookWire.com.

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