Is it Monday night that the Kansas City Royals finally win a game pitched by Jordan Lyles?
Lyles takes the mound for the Royals in Detroit against the Tigers with an 0-11 record and a 6.89 ERA. The Royals have lost Lyles’ 14 starts so far in 2023. He is the first pitcher in 30 years whose team has lost its first 13 starts of the season and the Royals’ losing streak in his starts is the longest to start a season since 1969.
Lyles was signed by the Royals as a free agent from the Baltimore Orioles. His ERA is the worst in baseball among pitchers who have made more than a dozen starts and he has just 59 strikeouts in nearly 80 innings.
Either way, the Royals only have +125 to win outright against the Tigers at BetMGM and -150 to keep the game within two runs. That’s because Reese Olson is starting for the Tigers. He allowed 10 hits and nine earned runs in 13.1 innings.
The Tigers are 30-40 and just five games behind the Minnesota Twins atop the AL Central. The Royals are… well, they’re much worse.
The relocation saga surrounding the Oakland A’s has overshadowed just how terrible the Royals have been so far in 2023. The A’s are 19-55 and have the worst record in baseball.
The Royals are 19-52 and the only other baseball team with less than 20 wins. In fact, the A’s and Royals are the only two teams with less than 27 wins.
Kansas City looked set to step up this season with young players like SS Bobby Witt Jr., 1B Vinnie Pasquantino and stalwart C Salvador Perez. But Witt has posted an OPS of just 0.704 so far this season and Pasquantino is out for the season with a shoulder injury. Perez has been reliable himself, but the pitching staff has a 5.22 team ERA and 1.422 WHIP. Only the A pitchers were worse. Keep that in mind if you’re looking to bet on the Royals on Monday night. Bleaching them can continue to be a profitable business.
The University World Series continues
Tennessee is a 1.5 point favorite over Stanford while Wake Forest is a 1.5 point favorite over LSU. The Demon Deacons are at -185 on the moneyline while Tennessee is at -135.
Tennessee’s loser to Stanford will be the second team eliminated from the tournament following Virginia’s loss to TCU on Sunday. The winner will play the loser of Wake Forest and LSU and will need to win three games to advance to the Finals.
Who cashed the tickets on Sunday?
Betting Max Verstappen continued to work if you like Formula 1 betting, although Verstappen was just -350 to win Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix. US Open winner Wyndham Clark had much, much higher odds heading into the tournament. Clark had +8000 up for grabs heading into Round 1 on Thursday.