Baseball Betting Trends: Kansas City Royals at New York Yankees

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

by Mike Stewart

Kansas City Royals at New York Yankees
When: 7:05 PM ET, Monday, May 21, 2012
Where: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FS Kansas City, YES (New York)

Opening Line: New York -170
Current Line: New York -173
MLB Betting Lines from: SBG Global Sportsbook

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are once again running neck-in-neck in the American League East. Only this time the bitter rivals are in an unfamiliar spot, staring up at the rest of the division. The Yankees' swoon continued in the series opener against the visiting Kansas City Royals on Monday night, as they tumbled to their third straight defeat and sixth loss in seven games to drop to .500 (21-21) and fall into a tie with the Red Sox in the AL East cellar.

Unlike the Yankees, the Royals came through in the clutch in Monday's 6-0 win. Two-run homers by Mike Moustakas and Jeff Francouer each came with two outs, powering Kansas City to its 12th win in 19 games away from home. The Yankees were 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position Monday and are 6-for-72 in such situations in the last nine games.

PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Luke Hochevar (3-4, 7.02 ERA) vs. New York RH Phil Hughes (3-5, 5.23)

After a pair of dreadful outings, Hochevar has pitched well in his last two starts, although he took the loss at Baltimore on Thursday by giving up four runs on seven hits in six innings. He was pounded by the Yankees earlier this month, lasting a season-low 2 1/3 innings and yielding seven runs on seven hits. Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson homered off Hochevar in the rout.

Hughes struck out a season-high seven batters in 6 2/3 innings to beat Hochevar and the Royals on May 6. He had his modest two-game winning streak snapped last out time in Toronto, lasting only 5 1/3 innings and giving up two runs on seven hits. He has allowed at least one homer in each start and 10 total in 41 1/3 innings. Billy Butler is 4-for-10 with three doubles against Hughes.

1. New York has scored only 15 runs in its last seven games.

2. Alex Gordon had a pair of hits Monday. He was mired in a 7-for-50 slump in his previous 12 games.

3. The Yankees entered play Monday second in the majors in homers, but they dropped to 0-10 when they fail to go deep.

Recent Trends on Kansas City:

• Over is 7-0-2 in Hochevars last 9 Tue. starts.
• KC are 2-7 in Hochevars last 9 Tue. starts.
• Over is 23-8-2 in Hochevars last 33 road starts.

Recent Trends on New York:

• Under is 18-7-1 in NYY last 26 overall.
• Under is 18-7-1 in NYY last 26 on grass.
• NYY are 18-8 in their last 26 Tue. games.

Head to Head:

• KC are 13-38 in the last 51 meetings in New York.
• KC are 28-67 in the last 95 meetings.

Prediction: New York -173

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Tags

alex gordon - billy butler - boston red sox - curtis granderson - jeff francouer - kansas city royals - luke hochevar - mike moustakas - new york yankees - phil hughes