Two American League Central teams look to snap out of their recent skids when the Kansas City Royals take on the Detroit Tigers at 6:40 p.m. ET on Thursday night.
The Tigers have lost three of their past four games, with the bats going silent in all three defeats by scoring one run or fewer. Yet, they're still atop the AL Central standings at 10-8. The Royals, meanwhile, are just excited to get out of the Bronx after they were swept by the New York Yankees. After losing five of the past six contests, Kansas City sits in third in the division at 8-11.
A pair of right-handed arms will get the start in this showdown, as the Royals are sending out Michael Lorenzen (1-2, 3.71 ERA) and Reese Olson (1-1, 6.00 ERA) gets the nod for the Tigers.
At FanDuel Sportsbook, both pitchers have strikeout props of 4.5. Over 4.5 strikeouts is favored for Olson, though at -118. For Lorenzen, Over 4.5 Ks is at plus money at +108, with the Under serving as a sizable favorite at -138. Olson struck out five batters in his first two starts but only punched out three last time out, whereas Lorenzen has only exceeded four strikeouts in his first start of the season.
For home run props, this is not a game that sportsbooks project to see a lot of baseballs leaving the yard. Tigers outfielder Kerry Carpenter has the shortest odds of anyone to hit one to the seats at +520. That is tied for the longest odds of any player who is the betting favorite to hit a home run in his respective contest today, joining Gunnar Henderson and Jose Ramirez at +520 each for Cleveland Guardians vs. Baltimore Orioles. For further context, there are seven players with HR odds shorter than +520 in today's Seattle Mariners vs. Cincinnati Reds affair.
The Tigers are -147 favorites (bet $147 to win $100) on the money line, according to SportsLine consensus, while the Royals are +124 (bet $100 to win $124) underdogs. The total is currently at 8 runs, with the Under right around a pick'em at -111 and the Over at -109.
Let's check out the SportsLine model's projections for Royals-Tigers.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS at DETROIT TIGERS | 4/17 | 6:40 p.m. ET
Money line
Pick: Royals +124
Kansas City wins in 43% of simulations, bringing value at these odds
Run line
Pick: Royals +1.5 (-172)
Kansas City covers in 66% of simulations, bringing value at these odds
Over/Under
Pick: Under 8 runs
The Under hits in 46% of simulations
Projected score: Tigers 4.3, Royals 3.9
