Blue Jays same-game parlay predictions vs. Royals Sept. 8: Bet on Kansas City and Bobby Witt Jr. at +330

The Toronto Blue Jays begin a pivotal homestand with a three-game series against the bottom-feeding Kansas City Royals.

The pregame narrative: Toronto holds a half-game lead on the Texas Rangers for the AL's final wild card spot and winning games like this is key for a playoff push. The Jays are -250 favourites as of Friday morning but we're going to back the Royals on an alternate run line and also expect Bobby Witt Jr. to get after Yusei Kikuchi.

MLB oddsas of 11:20 a.m. on 09/08/2023.

Blue Jays same-game parlay vs. Royals

Parlay: Royals +2.5 + Witt Jr. over 1.5 bases + Over 7.5 runs (+330)

Royals +2.5 (-167): Toronto is treading just above .500 (8-7) in its last 15 games and has only covered this line once in its past five. The Royals are a mess, no doubt, but the Jays are a miserable 22-35 on the run line as home favourites this season.

Kikuchi pitched the lights out following the all-star break but we're starting to see some regression back to the mean. The lefty allowed five earned runs in his first six starts (1.29 ERA, 35.0 IP) after the midsummer classic but has conceded nine ER in three starts (5.28 ERA, 15.1 IP) since.

Toronto failed to cover this line in two of those three starts.

Other parlay picks

Witt over 1.5 bases (+112): Witt is one of the few bright spots on an otherwise unwatchable team. The 23-year-old shortstop is hitting .273 this season with 61 extra-base hits and an 116 OPS+. He's been in a bit of a funk lately but has still cleared this mark in three of the past six games.

Kikuchi presents a perfect opportunity for the young gun to get back on track.

Witt is slashing .305/.341/.548 against lefties this season with a 17.7% strikeout rate. He should be putting the ball in play often tonight and with his speed, this line is very attainable.

Over 7.5 runs (-200): This is a modest total, especially considering the way Kansas City has been playing lately. The Royals have scored at least four runs in five of their past six games and are averaging 7.3 runs per game in that span.

Toronto should be able to pull its weight in this match, too.

Kansas City is trotting out Collin Snider as an opener and none of the team's options after him are worrisome. The Jays are also averaging 7.0 runs across their last six and have gone over this total in five of those games.