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Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins odds, picks and predictions

Published

3 months ago

August 14, 2024

Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins odds, picks and predictions

The Kansas City Royals (62-55) and Minnesota Twins (67-52) meet for a Wednesday matinee, as they close out a 3-game series in Minneapolis. First pitch at Target Field is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. ET (MLB Network). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Royals vs. Twins odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.

Season series: Twins lead 7-2; won 8-3 Monday, 13-3 Tuesday

Kansas City has been outscored 21-6 in dropping the 1st 2 games of this series. The Royals head into Wednesday’s series finale having lost 5 of their last 6 to Minnesota.

The Twins, who banged out 8 extra-base hits Tuesday, have notched an .841 OPS since July 31. In 9 home games over that span, Minnesota has registered a robust .919 OPS.

Royals at Twins projected starters

LHP Cole Ragans vs. Undecided

Ragans (9-7, 3.27 ERA) makes his 25th start. He has a 1.17 WHIP, 3.0 BB/9 and 10.7 K/9 through 140 1/3 IP across 24 starts.

Last outing: Win, 6 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 7 K in 8-4 win vs. Boston Red Sox Wednesday
Career vs. Twins: 0-2, 3.00 ERA (15 IP, 5 ER), 18 H, 6 BB, 18 K

RHP Louie Varland, a would-be returnee from Triple-A St. Paul, is a possible starter for the Twins. Varland has appeared in 7 games for the Twins, 6 as a starter. He owns a 6.46 ERA across 30 2/3 IP. The 26-year-old has logged a 4.91 ERA in 29 career games.

Who’s going yard? Here’s a breakdown of today’s best home run props with our top picks. Include the BetMGM bonus code SBWIRE to score a $1,500 first-bet offer.

Royals at Twins odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 7:31 a.m. ET.

Moneyline: Royals -110 (bet $100 to win $110) | Twins -110 (bet $110 to win $100)
Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Royals +1.5 (-250) | Twins -1.5 (+185)
Over/Under (O/U): 8 (O: -120 | U: +100)

Royals at Twins picks and predictions

Prediction

Twins 4, Royals 3

Moneyline

Ragans has been quite good this season, but he’s the owner of an artificially tamped-down 3.80 ERA over his last 4 starts and figures to be overrated a tad.

The Twins have been on a roll against Kansas City and are tough on lefty pitching (.759 OPS with power). Minnesota is 8-2 in its last 10 home games and 36-23 overall at Target Field.

Even with the mound question mark, MINNESOTA (-110) is the value play.

Run line/Against the spread

So much juice as to drown out any leverage here. AVOID.

Over/Under

Peg the Royals’ 4.78 runs-per-game figure as being somewhat suspect on the high side. Kansas City, which has banged out a .775 OPS at home but just a .672 mark abroad, has been aided by a .329 batting average on balls in play with runners in scoring position.

Minnesota has hit the ball well of late but does have a dodgy history against Ragans (.669 OPS per ESPN). And Ragans is backed by a rested Kansas City bullpen.

It may be worth holding out for 8.5 runs here, but the UNDER 8 (+100) is worth some partial-unit action.

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Injury Report: Designations ahead of Buffalo Bills-Kansas City Chiefs | Sporting News

Published

41 mins ago

November 17, 2024

Press Room

Kansas City Chiefs

Out: RB Isiah Pacheco (IR), DE Charles Omenihu (IR), K Harrison Butker (IR)

Questionable: None

Active: QB Patrick Mahomes, WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR DeAndre Hopkins, WR Mecole Hardman, OL Wanya Morris, DE George Karlaftis, DE Mike Danna, DT Derrick Nnadi

Takeaway: The Chiefs luck out by having several of their top offensive weapons ready to go, despite shake-ups in the last few weeks. Patrick Mahomes has dealt with an ankle injury throughout the season, but he’s played through it and will once again do so against the Bills.

Harrison Butker is on injured reserve after undergoing knee surgery this week. Former Jets kicker Spencer Shrader will fill in for Butker. Defensively, Kansas City will have just about all of their core guys, including George Karlaftis and Derrick Nnadi.

Buffalo Bills

Out: WR Keon Coleman, TE Dalton Kincaid, LB Matt Milano (IR)

Questionable: WR Amari Cooper, OL Spencer Brown

Active: QB Josh Allen, WR Mack Hollins, WR Curtis Samuel, CB Christian Benford, LB Terrel Bernard, CB Kaiir Elam, FB Reggie Gilliam, DT DaQuan Jones, TE Quintin Morris, S Taylor Rapp, DE Casey Toohill, LB Dorian Williams

Takeaway: Keon Coleman and Dalton Kincaid will be huge losses for the Bills in Sunday’s game. Because of that, Josh Allen will be forced to find new targets. Guys like Mack Hollins, Curtis Samuel and Khalil Shakir will likely see more volume than usual, and the Bills will likely utilize their running game heavily.

Defensively, the Bills are fairly healthy. Starters like Taylor Rapp, Christian Benford and Terrel Bernard being active helps Buffalo greatly in stopping the Chiefs’ high-powered, Mahomes-led offense.

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Shocking Week 12 Kansas-BYU result gives Cougars’ matchup with Arizona State unforeseen College Football Playoff implications | Sporting News

Published

8 hours ago

November 17, 2024

Press Room

Shocking Week 12 Kansas-BYU result gives Cougars’ matchup with Arizona State unforeseen College Football Playoff implications | Sporting News

BYU’s perfect season was spoiled in Week 12 and their College Football Playoff fate now hangs in the balance. After a 17-13 loss to Kansas, the Cougars’ November 23 matchup with Arizona State is now a CFP eliminator.

Once one of the top stories in the sport, BYU now faces the possibility of their first losing streak all season ending their title hopes at the most inopportune of times.

“We’ve got ourselves a CFP elimination game next week in Tempe when BYU visits ASU. A sentence never before written,” The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel.

Kalani Sitake took a measured and even inspirational tone during the postgame press conference, complimenting his Cougars’ effort and giving the Jayhawks their due.

“Well, obviously disappointing result, but a lot of credit to Kansas. They had a really good game plan. And looking at the stats, just didn’t really make enough plays and made way too many mistakes for us to come up with the victory,” Sitake said in the early hours of November 17 (h/t ESPN 960’s Benjamin Criddle).

“We have a lot more to play for. This is not the end.”

BYU could still make the College Football Playoff with a Cougars Big 12 Championship win

The Big 12 Championship is still a direct path for the Cougars into the College Football Playoff. Colorado would likely be on the schedule if Kansas doesn’t strike again next week and/or Oklahoma State upsets the Buffs in Week 14.

Of course, the alternative is suddenly the sickening feeling Provo, Utah must collectively feel right now after such a downer of a loss against a six-loss team.

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Kansas vs. BYU FREE LIVE STREAM (11/16/24): Watch college football, Week 12 online | Time, TV, channel

Published

16 hours ago

November 16, 2024

Press Room

Kansas vs. BYU FREE LIVE STREAM (11/16/24): Watch college football, Week 12 online | Time, TV, channel

The Kansas Jayhawks, led by quarterback Jalon Daniels, face the No. 6 BYU Cougars, led by quarterback Jake Retzlaff on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024 (11/16/24) at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah.

How to watch: Fans can watch the game for free via a trial of DirecTV Stream or fuboTV. You can also watch via a subscription to Sling TV, which is offering half off your first month.

Here’s what you need to know:

What: NCAA Football, Week 12

Who: Kansas vs. BYU

When: Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024

Where: LaVell Edwards Stadium

Time: 10:15 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Live stream: fuboTV (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial)

***

Here are the best streaming options for college football this season:

Fubo TV (free trial): fuboTV carries ESPN, FOX, ABC, NBC and CBS.

DirecTV Stream (free trial): DirecTV Stream carries ESPN, FOX, NBC and CBS.

Sling TV ($25 off the first month)– Sling TV carries ESPN, FOX, ABC and NBC.

ESPN+($9.99 a month): ESPN+ carries college football games each weekend for only $9.99 a month. These games are exclusive to the platform.

Peacock TV ($5.99 a month): Peacock will simulstream all of NBC Sports’ college football games airing on the NBC broadcast network this season, including Big Ten Saturday Night. Peacock will also stream Notre Dame home games. Certain games will be streamed exclusively on Peacock this year as well.

Paramount+ (free trial): Paramount Plus will live stream college football games airing on CBS this year.

***

Here’s a preview capsule via the Associated Press:

Kansas (3-6, 2-4 Big 12) at No. 7 BYU (9-0, 6-0, No. 6 CFP), Saturday, 10:15 p.m. EST (ESPN)

BetMGM College Football Odds: BYU by 3.

Series record: Kansas leads 2-0

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

BYU can clinch a spot in the Big 12 Championship game with two victories in its next three games. Only Colorado is within a game of the Cougars in the league standings. Kansas is looking to win games against ranked opponents in back-to-back weeks for the first time in school history.

KEY MATCHUP

BYU’s defense has a penchant for getting burned by chunk plays on the ground. Running the ball is an offensive strength for Kansas, which churns out 213.6 yards rushing per game. Both Jalon Daniels and Devin Neal can get to the second level and put the Cougars on their heels. On the other side, Jake Retzlaff can exploit a mediocre Kansas pass defense allowing 282.7 yards per game through the air against Big 12 opponents.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Kansas: Neal broke Kansas’ all-time records for career rushing yards and career rushing touchdowns in the Jayhawks’ 45-36 win over Iowa State after rushing for 116 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries. Neal has 3,951 career rushing yards to go with 43 career rushing TDs and will likely surpass the 4,000-yard plateau on Saturday.

BYU: Retzlaff had a rough outing in the Cougars’ 22-21 win over Utah. Retzlaff had his fifth straight 200-yard game after throwing for 219 yards, but he also completed a season-low 45.5% of his passes. BYU has won by double digits in five of the six games where he’s had a completion percentage of 56% or better.

FACTS & FIGURES

BYU leads the Big 12 in turnovers gained (21), interceptions (16), and turnover margin (1.11). The Cougars rank in the Top 10 among FBS teams in all three categories. … Kansas leads the Big 12 in sacks allowed per game (0.89). … Kansas cornerbacks Mello Dotson and Cobee Bryant are tied for first atop the Big 12 with four interceptions apiece. BYU cornerback Jakob Robinson is tied for fifth in the league with three interceptions. … BYU kicker Will Ferrin leads the Big 12 with 17 made field goals. … Kansas is 1-1 all-time in the state of Utah. This is the first trip to Provo for the Jayhawks. They previously beat Utah in Salt Lake City in 1950 and lost there to the Utes in 1996.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report)

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