Royals prediction, pick, how to watch

The Seattle Mariners finish their four-game road trip to the Kansas City Royals today. It is time to continue our MLB odds series with a Mariners-Royals prediction, pick, and how to watch.

Yesterday, the Mariners won their second straight game over the Royals, winning 6-5. Game one of the series saw the Royals blow a 5-0 lead, as the Mariners scored four in the eighth and two in the ninth to take the lead. Still, a blown save by Matt Brash led to the Royals taking game one. In game two, it was the Mariners who blew the big lead. They scored seven in the fourth innings, but the Royals would score five in the fifth and three in the ninth to force extra innings. Ty France came through in the tenth for the Mariners to give them the win. It was almost another blown save yesterday, as the Royals were down two in the ninth and got a run back, but Matt Brash did close the deal.

While the Royals are well out of the playoff race, the Mariners are 65-55 on the season, and aiming for a playoff spot. That places them just one game behind the Blue Jays for the last Wild Card spot in the American League.

Here are the Mariners-Royals MLB odds,

MLB Odds: Mariners-Royals Odds

Seattle Mariners: -1.5 (-126)

Kansas City Royals: +1.5 (+105)

Over: 9 (-120)

Under: 9 (-102)

How To Watch Mariners vs. Royals

TV: RSNW/BSKC

Stream: MLB.TV/ESPN+

For the inside story on the 24 people banned from MLB, listen below:

Time: 2:10 PM ET/ 11:10 AM PT

*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Mariners Could Cover The Spread

It has been the Mariner's offense in this series that has been great. They have scored 22 runs so far in the three games, and have scored 42 runs in their last eight games overall. On the year, the Mariners are 15th in the majors in runs scored, while sitting 23rd in batting average, 20th in on-base percentage, and 17th in slugging. Julio Rodriguez comes into this game having one of the best months of his career. He is hitting .328 on the month with a .377 on-base percentage. Meanwhile, he has two home runs and seven doubles. This has led to him driving in 16 runs this month. With it only being August 17th, he will most likely eclipse his best month in that regard, which was 18 in May. He has also stolen six bases and scored eight times this month.

Meanwhile, Ty France is also hitting well. In the last week, he is hitting .368 with a .556 on-base percentage. He has scored four times while hitting a double and two home runs. That has led to him having five RBIs in the last six games. Josh Rojas has been scoring a ton as of late. In the last week, he has scored six times, and that is because he is getting on base so much. In the last six games, he is hitting .375 with a .444 on-base percentage. He has a home run and a double, leading to four RBIs. As a whole, the Mariners are getting on base at a .339 clip in the last six games, while Aldo stealing six bases and hitting nine home runs.

Today they send their ace to the mound. He is 10-8 on the year with a 3.11 ERA. This month Kirby has been great for the Mariners. Last time out it was nine innings of work, giving up just three hits and no runs. Still, he did not get the win as the game went to the tenth inning tied at zero and the Orioles won 1-0 in ten. The time before that, Kirby have up just one run in seven innings, giving him the win and a .56 ERA this month. Kirby has allowed one or fewer runs in six of his last seven starts while getting three wins.

Why The Royals Could Cover The Spread

The Royals' offense has been surprisingly good as of late. They have scored 36 runs in the last five games, but have only won two of them. On the year, they are tied for 27th in the majors in runs scored, while sitting 19th in batting average, 27th in on-base percentage, and 23rd in slugging. The team has been led all year by Bobby Witt Jr. He leads the Royals in batting average, home runs, and RBIs this season. He is having another great month. Witt is hitting .356 this month with a .415 on-base percentage. Meanwhile, he has hit five home runs and four doubles leading to 16 RBIS this month. He has also stolen five bases and scored 11 times.

Salvador Perez is also driving in a ton of runs. In the last week, he is hitting .400 with two home runs and a double. This has led to him driving in nine runs in the last six games, and scoring four times. Scoring runs is something Maikel Garcia has been doing a lot of as of late too. He is coming into this one hot, hitting .400 in the last week. He has one extra-base hit, a double, and two RBIs. The big thing is, Garcia has scored five times in the last week. As a whole, the Royals are hitting great. They are hitting .336 as a team with a .361 on-base percentage in the last week.

The Royals will send out Angel Zerpa in this one to start the game. It will be his first start this season and only his fifth appearance. He has been used in long relief situations most of the year. On the season, he has pitched 9.1 innings, giving up nine runs with eight of them earned. The Royals' offense will most likely need to give him some run support to win this game.

Final Mariners-Royals Prediction & Pick

While George Kriby is on the mound for the Mariners, the Royals are rolling. Since the start of the month, they have had the second-best batting average and are slugging behind the Braves. Angel Zerba has not been the best pitcher this year, but it is a limited sample size. If the Royals can keep up their offense, expect plenty of runs in this one, and the Royals could easily cover.

Final Mariners-Royals Prediction & Pick: Royals +1.5 (+105) and Over 9 (-120)