Royals and Yankees set to square-off on the MLB Network this Tuesday night

MLB Betting

MLB Betting Game Trends

The Kansas City Royals continue their series against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium this Tuesday night in Game 2 of a three-game set. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on the MLB Network.

Game Overview

Kansas City fell to 16-24 on the year and 5-5 in its last 10 games after dropping two of three to Arizona in this past weekend’s Interleague matchup. It is now 6.5 games back in the AL Central. The Royals kick-off a nine-game road trip starting with Monday night’s contest against New York where they are over .500 at 11-7. The total has stayed ‘under’ in four of their last seven games and is 18-21-1 overall.

Luke Hochevar is slated to get the start on Tuesday night for Kansas City. The right-hander is 3-4 in eight previous starts with an ERA of 7.02 and a 1.54 WHIP. His last time out, he gave-up four earned runs on seven hits in a loss to Baltimore. Earlier this season against New York, Hochevar was tagged with seven earned runs on seven hits in just 2.1 innings of work. Lifetime against the Yankees he is 0-2 with an 8.83 ERA.

New York has lost five of its last six games including two of three to Cincinnati over the weekend to fall to 21-20 on the year and 5.5 games back in the AL East. The Yankees are 12-10 at home this season overall and 5-4 in their last nine home games. The total has stayed ‘under’ in three of their last five games and is 16-24-1 overall.

Look for Phil Hughes to get the call as New York’s starter for this game. He gave-up two earned runs on seven hits in a loss to Toronto last Thursday to fall to 3-5 in his first eight starts. The right-hander comes into this contest with a 5.23 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. He is 3-1 with a 6.08 ERA lifetime against the Royals.

Betting Trends

The Royals are 2-5 in Hochevar’s last seven starts overall but 5-1 in his last six starts in Game 2 of a series. The total has stayed ‘under’ in seven of the last 11 games against the AL East.

The Yankees are 24-8 in Hughes’ last 32 starts at home but 1-4 in the second game of their last five series. The total has stayed ‘under’ in 16 of their last 21 games.

New York is 4-1 in Hughes’ last five starts against the Royals. The total stayed ‘under’ in three of their first four games this season in Kansas City with the series evenly split 2-2.

Prediction

Despite the strong trend for a low scoring game, the ‘over’ could be the best play in this game given both starters’ recent form. Stick with the Royals to pound-out enough runs to secure a rare win against Hughes. Kansas City 6 New York 4