Can The Surprising Royals Take Another Series From the Astros?
Despite A Tough Start, Visiting Houston Is Favored in Opener in the Astros vs Royals Preview
After a 2-7 Start, Houston Is Favored To Win Its Third Win in a Row
When the MLB schedule was released, who could have predicted that the Kansas City Royals would have a better record than the Houston Astros heading into their first series of the season. The Astros vs Royals preview has visiting Houston favored in the series opener.
Kansas City won five of the six games against Houston in 2023, with the Royals winning both series while outscoring the Astros 31-29.
When considering MLB results for today, keep in mind that Houston is priced at -122 to win Tuesday’s series opener, with +135 odds for the Astros to cover against the run line as the 1.5-run favorite. Kansas City, as the home underdog, has +112 odds to win outright on Tuesday.
Houston is third at +850 behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves in the odds of winning the World Series. Kansas City is well back at +15000 in the championship odds.
Keep on reading for more on the series between the Astros and the Royals.
Astros vs Royals 
Day/Time: Tuesday-Wednesday, 7:40 p.m. ET; Thursday, 2:10 p.m. ET
Records: Astros 4-7/Royals 6-4
Location: Kaufmann Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Streaming: Bally Sports Kansas City/Space City Home Network 2
Houston vs Royals Probable Pitchers
- Tuesday: Cristian Javier (Astros); Cole Ragans (Royals)
- Wednesday: Hunter Brown (Astros); Seth Lugo (Royals)
- Thursday: J.P. France (Astros); Brady Singer (Royals)
Astros Dialing Long Distance
It has been a slow start for the Astros, but a promising sign is that the Astros are among the MLB leaders in home runs.
Veterans Yordan Alvarez (four home runs) and Jose Altuve (three home runs) lead the way, while Jeremy Pena, Yanier Diaz, Jake Meyers, and Kyle Tucker each have hit two home runs.
Houston hit 12 home runs in the first four wins of the 2024 MLB season, with 20 of the 31 runs being scored with home runs. That could factor into the Astros vs Royals preview.
Seven of Houston’s last 10 games went under the total.
Not Bad for Starters
There is still plenty of baseball left to play but the early returns are rather impressive for the Kansas City starting pitchers.
The Royals starting pitchers led the majors by limiting opponents to a .167 batting average with a 1.60 ERA second only to the Boston Red Sox.
The three MLB probable starting pitchers in this series have played a hurt role in those gaudy numbers.
Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, and Brady Singer have combined to allow 21 hits and four earned runs with 37 strikeouts in 38.1 innings. Keep that in mind when looking at the Astros vs Royals preview.
Eight of Kansas City’s last 12 games finished under the total.
Who’s Hot
- Yordan Alvarez, Houston Astros OF: Alvarez is 6-for-12 with four runs, a double, two home runs, and six RBIs in his last three games.
- Cristian Javier, Houston Astros P: Javier has given up five hits and no runs with eight strikeouts in 11 innings in his first two starts of the season.
- M.J. Melendez, Kansas City Royals OF: Melendez is hitting .333 with two doubles, three home runs, four runs, and seven RBIs in his last five games.
- Brady Singer, Kansas City Royals P: Singer has allowed five hits and one run with 14 strikeouts in 13.1 innings in his first two starts of the season.
Who’s Not
- Jose Abreu, Houston Astros 1B: Abreu is 0-for-10 with five strikeouts in his last four MLB games.
- Hunter Brown, Houston Astros P: Brown allowed eight hits, walked four and surrendered five runs in three innings in his last start.
- James MacArthur, Kansas City Royals P: MacArthur has surrendered eight hits and four runs in 4.2 innings this season.
- Vinnie Pasquantino, Kansas City Royals 1B: Pasquantino is 1-for-15 with no extra-base hits and two strikeouts in his last four games.
Astros vs Royals Injury Update
Pitchers Luis Garcia, Justin Verlander, Kendall Graveman, Lance McCullers, Penn Murfee, and Jose Urquidy are among the players sidelined for the Astros.
Infielder Michael Massey joins pitchers Kris Bubic, Carlos Hernandez, Josh Taylor, and Kyle Wright on the MLB injured list for Kansas City.
Astros vs Royals Betting Preview
Even with multiple key pitchers for both Houston and Kansas City on the injured list, there are some intriguing starting pitching matchups in the first series of the season between the Astros and the Royals.
Houston is just 2-6 as a favorite this season after posting a 65-61 record as a favorite a season ago. Since the start of last season, Houston is 53-81 against the run line as the favorite with Kansas City 68-78 as the underdog.
When looking at the MLB weather today, temperatures are expected to be in the high 60s with no chance of rain by the time of the first pitch in the series opener.
Kansas City has won its last five home games and is 5-1 in the previous six games.
The total has gone under in 11 of Kansas City’s last 16 games against American League West Division teams with total set at 8.5 runs for Tuesday’s series opener. Four of Houston’s last five games against AL Central squads finished over the total.
Houston is 11-2 in its last 13 road games and 29-19 in its last 48 games as a road favorite. Kansas City has a 28-36 outright record as the home underdog since the start of the 2023 season.
Even though Houston is just 1-5 in its last six games in Kansas City, plenty of early money has been coming in on the Astros in Tuesday’s opener.
For betting news, MLB odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
