Royals vs White Sox Picks and Odds (April 10)
- The Royals and White Sox play the second of their three-game set on Saturday, April 10th
- Chicago blanked KC 6-0 in the series opener
- Get the odds, preview, and best bet, below
After a day off, the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals will continue their series on Saturday, April 10th (first pitch 2:10 pm ET) at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The Southsiders convincingly beat Kansas City in game 1 thanks to a solid offensive performance and a complete game shutout from Lance Lynn. For this afternoon contest, Dylan Cease gets the ball for the Sox, while lefty Mike Minor takes the mound for the Royals.
Royals vs White Sox Odds
| Team | Runline at DraftKings | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Royals | +1.5 (-155) | +135 | O 9 (-115) |
| Chicago White Sox | -1.5 (+128) | -159 | U 9 (-105) |
Odds as of April 9th.
Can Minor Slow Down Hot Chicago Bats?
Minor, who signed a two-year deal with KC back in the fall, makes his second start of the season on Saturday. His debut wasn’t fantastic, giving up four earned across six innings against the Texas Rangers.
However, he’ll be on a full week’s rest for this outing. A lot of the White Sox lineup hasn’t faced the 33-year-old, compiling a .183 average against Minor. In his career, the veteran lefty boasts a 2.89 ERA in seven appearances vs. Chicago, tossing 18.2 innings and making two starts.
White Sox Stats vs Minor
| Player | AB | H | HR | RBI | K | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jose Abreu | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| Leurys Garcia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .667 |
| Yasmani Grandal | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| Jake Lamb | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Yoan Moncada | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
The Sox have been swinging the bats quite well through the first six games, despite the 4-4 record. They’ve scored an average of six runs per contest while outscoring the Mariners 20-12 in their previous series.
Despite having lots of electrifying hitters like Jose Abreu and Tim Anderson, it’s actually been 28-year-old rookie Yermin Mercedes who’s propelled the offense. After spending more than 10 years in professional baseball, the Dominican finally got a call-up to the bigs last season but had just one at-bat. However, he has flourished early on in 2021.
Mercedes is hitting an incredible .556 with two homers and seven RBIs, single-handedly carrying the White Sox offense right now. He’s never faced Minor, but any arm should be afraid of the way he’s raking.
Cease Looking For Better Start
Cease got hit around a bit by the Angels in his season debut, lasting just 4.1 innings and giving up three earned runs including an absolute moonshot to Shohei Ohtani.
He was dominant in Spring Training though with a 1.06 ERA and Cease will be looking to carry that form into the season. The 25-year-old has struggled at the major league level with a career ERA over five.
Cease has also hasn’t pitched against any other team in the MLB as often as the Royals, making four starts and giving up 12 runs.
Royals Stats vs Cease
| Player | AB | H | HR | RBI | K | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hunter Dozier | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | .286 |
| Cam Gallagher | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .167 |
| Nicky Lopez | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .286 |
| Whit Merrifield | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .100 |
| Salvador Perez | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .667 |
| Carlos Santana | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 |
| Jorge Soler | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 |
There’s not really a whole lot expected out of the Royals this season but at 3-3 so far, they haven’t been awful by any means. Kansas City is top-10 in the majors in runs scored and hits currently but will be looking to forget a rough performance on Thursday where Lynn completely carved them up.
Whit Merrifield has been Mike Matheny’s best hitter by far, slashing .375 with three long balls and nine RBI’s. Former Cleveland Indians star Carlos Santana is also another bat capable of putting up some impressive numbers.
Whit(e) hot.#TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/vGjWuFX36o
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 6, 2021
Jorge Soler is a big X factor for the Royals. After clubbing 48 homers in 2019, last season was very underwhelming for the Cuban, hitting just .228 with eight bombs. If this team is going to have any chance at potentially contending in the AL Central, his bat will need to come alive in the heart of the Kansas City lineup.
Best Bet
Cease has a 4.22 ERA against the Royals. On the other hand, Minor has pitched relatively well in his big league career vs. Chicago.
I believe you’ll see KC bounce back on Saturday and string together some hits after getting completely shut down. Cease is the guy they’d want on the mound in order to do some damage as well. Expect the visitors to tie the series at one, while Minor will keep the Sox hitters at bay.
Pick: Kansas City Royals +135
Quinn Allen is a sports journalist, with a background and education in broadcast journalism (BCIT '17). He is a full-time associate editor at ClutchPoints by day, where he writes about soccer, baseball, basketball, football, and more. At night, Quinn is a frequent contributor at SBD.
