The Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays square off on Sunday with first pitch set for 12:05 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, and will be available to watch on Peacock. Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios will look to repeat his most recent, dominant outing. The Royals will go after a split with left-hander Kris Bubic on the mound.
The Royals (36-55) took a two-run lead in the 10th inning Saturday after a homer by rookie Vinnie Pasquantino, but they couldn’t hold it as the Blue Jays strung together four straight hits in the bottom of the frame to earn the W. Bobby Witt Jr. extended his on-base streak with a couple of hits Saturday. He is batting .377 with eight RBIs during that span. Bubic has pitched a little better since posting an ERA of 10.50 in four April starts. But his 6.63 ERA remains pretty unsightly. He has one of the worst walk rates in MLB (13.2%), and his 48.3% hard-hit rate is the third highest among all pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched.
The Blue Jays (49-43) jumped back into the third Wild Card spot with that walk-off win entering Saturday night’s action. Teoscar Hernandez authored the game-winning single, and he is batting .349 with four homers and 12 RBIs in his past five games. Blue Jays All-Stars Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk combined for five hits in eight at-bats Saturday. Berrios, like Bubic, has some terrible-looking metrics. But he did tie his career high 13 strikeouts in a victory over the Philadelphia Phillies his last time out. He has a 5.38 ERA for the season, but just a 3.18 ERA in three starts this month.
Royals vs. Blue Jays
Pitchers: Kris Bubic vs. Jose Berrios
First pitch: 12:05 p.m. ET
Live stream: Peacock, Peacock App with subscription
Odds, picks & predictions
Run Line: Blue Jays -1.5 (-155)
Run total: 9
Moneyline odds: Blue Jays -320, Royals +265
Moneyline pick: Blue Jays -320
Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Matt Chapman — the Blue Jays have a handful of guys swinging the bat pretty well right now. And that obviously doesn’t include Vladdy, Kirk, Bo Bichette, etc. A home matchup against a starter prone to hard contact? Sounds like a victory in the waiting for Toronto, especially with Berrios showing flashes of his old self recently.
Player prop pick: Alejandro Kirk over 1.5 total bases (+105)
Kirk is riding a five-game hitting streak and is 5-14 in the series. He went 2-4 on Saturday with a pair of singles and has at least two bases in two of his last three games. Kirk has a favorable matchup against the southpaw Bubic and should tally at least two bases on Sunday.
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