Pirates vs. Royals Betting Odds, Pitching Matchup – September 13, 2024

The Kansas City Royals (80-67) are +108 underdogs for their matchup with the Pittsburgh Pirates (70-76) on Friday at 6:40 p.m. ET. Bobby Witt Jr. has 99 RBI on the season and will hope to hit his milestone 100th once the game begins at PNC Park, live on BSKC. Pittsburgh is expected to give the ball to Luis Ortiz, while Kansas City has yet to name a starting pitcher.

Here is our preview for this game, and find all of our MLB betting picks, too!

Pirates vs. Royals Betting Lines

• Favorite: Pirates (-126)
• Underdog: Royals (+108)
• Over/under: 8.5

Pirates vs. Royals Betting Insights

• The Pirates have come away with 33 wins in the 57 contests they have been listed as the favorites in this season.
• Pittsburgh has a record of 20-17 in contests when sportsbooks favor them by -126 or more on the moneyline.
• The moneyline set for this matchup implies the Pirates have a 55.8% chance of walking away with the win.
• The Royals have won 44% of the games this season they were the underdog on the moneyline (33-42).
• Kansas City has a 20-30 record (winning 40% of its games) when playing as a moneyline underdog of +108 or longer.
• The Royals have a 48.1% chance to win this contest based on the moneyline’s implied probability.

Pirates vs. Royals Hitting Leaders

• Bryan Reynolds leads Pittsburgh in home runs with 22, runs batted in with 83 and his batting average of .279 is also best on his team.
• Reynolds’ home runs put him 41st in Major League Baseball, and he is 25th in RBI.
• Oneil Cruz is batting .266 with an OBP of .325 and a slugging percentage of .460 this season.
• Witt paces the Royals with 30 home runs and has put up a team-best batting average of .333.
• Witt’s home run total ranks 14th in the majors, and he is ninth in RBI.
• Salvador Perez has been productive as he paces his team with 101 RBI.

Pirates vs. Royals Pitching Rankings

• The Pirates have an 8.4 K/9 this season as a pitching staff, which ranks 20th in the majors.
• The Pirates have the 17th-ranked ERA (4.13) in the majors this season.
• The Pirates have a combined WHIP of 1.313 as a pitching staff, which ranks 23rd in MLB.
• The pitching staff for the Royals has a collective 8.3 K/9, which ranks 23rd in MLB.
• Kansas City’s 3.87 team ERA ranks 10th across all MLB pitching staffs.
• Pitchers for the Royals combine for the 16th-ranked WHIP in baseball (1.255).