Yankees vs. Royals ALDS Game 1 Betting Odds, Pitching Matchup – October 5, 2024

The ALDS kicks off Saturday at 6:38 p.m. ET when the New York Yankees host the Kansas City Royals live from Yankee Stadium, and airing on Max. Gerrit Cole will get the ball for New York while Kansas City will counter with Michael Wacha. The Yankees are -203 favorites to pick up the win, while the underdog Royals have +169 odds on the moneyline.

Be sure to check out our preview for this matchup, and uncover all of our MLB betting picks, too!

Yankees vs. Royals Betting Lines

• Favorite: Yankees (-203)
• Underdog: Royals (+169)
• Over/under: 7.5

Yankees vs. Royals Betting Insights

• The Yankees have been victorious in 74, or 56.9%, of the 130 contests they have been chosen as favorites in this season.
• New York has a record of 16-12 in contests when oddsmakers favor them by -203 or more on the moneyline.
• The moneyline set for this matchup implies the Yankees have a 67% chance of walking away with the win.
• The Royals have gone 37-46 in games they were listed as the moneyline underdog (winning 44.6% of those games).
• In games it has played as a moneyline underdog with odds of +169 or longer, Kansas City has gone 2-2 (50%).
• Based on this game’s moneyline, the Royals’ implied win probability is 37.2%.

Yankees vs. Royals Hitting Leaders

• Aaron Judge leads New York in home runs with 58, runs batted in with 144 and his batting average of .322 is also best on his team.
• Of all MLB hitters, Judge ranks third in batting average, first in on-base percentage, and first in slugging.
• Juan Soto is batting .288 with an OBP of .419 and a slugging percentage of .569 this season.
• Bobby Witt Jr. paces the Royals in home runs (32), runs batted in (109) and has accumulated a team-best batting average of .332.
• Among all hitters in the majors, Witt’s home run total puts him 16th, and his RBI total ranks sixth.
• Vinnie Pasquantino is batting .262 with 30 doubles, two triples, 19 home runs and 40 walks.

Yankees vs. Royals Pitching Rankings

• The Yankees have a nine K/9 this season as a pitching staff, sixth-best in baseball.
• The Yankees have pitched to a 3.75 ERA this season, which ranks seventh in baseball.
• The Yankees rank 12th in MLB with a combined 1.244 WHIP this season.
• The Royals pitching staff is 18th in MLB with a collective 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
• Kansas City has the eighth-ranked team ERA across all MLB pitching staffs (3.76).
• The Royals have the 13th-ranked WHIP in the majors (1.245).