The Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox will meet for the second game of a three-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field on Wednesday afternoon, and things couldn’t have gone much worse for the home team in Tuesday night’s series opener.
Chicago was blanked, 6-0, and it has now lost eight straight. Kansas City snapped a four-game losing streak in that tilt, passing the South Siders for second in the AL Central.
Can Chi-Town finally get back into the win column here? Find out in our free MLB betting picks and predictions for Royals vs White Sox on Wednesday, April 27.
Royals vs White Sox odds
This odds widget represents the best odds available for each betting market from regulated sportsbooks.
Despite their losing ways, the White Sox have been hammered down by the betting public from the opening consensus line of -150 to the -200 range.
The total has also seen significant betting action, being knocked down by Under bettors from 7.5 to 7.0 at many sites.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until first pitch and be sure to check out the full MLB odds before placing your bets.
Royals vs White Sox predictions
Picks made on 4/27/2022 at 10:15 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Royals vs White Sox game info
• Location: Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago, IL
• Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2022
• First pitch: 7:10 p.m. ET
• TV: Bally Sports, NBCS-CHI
Royals vs White Sox betting preview
Starting pitchers
Zack Greinke (0-1, 2.25 ERA): Zack Greinke has not pitched deep into games for the Royals this season, but he’s been effective in his second go-around in Kansas City. Greinke has scattered four runs over his first three starts of 2022 (16 innings) while recording a 1.19 WHIP. The lone cause for concern for him might be his lack of strikeouts (two).
Dylan Cease (2-1, 3.38 ERA): Dylan Cease looked strong in his first two starts of the year, allowing only two runs over 10 2-3 innings with 16 strikeouts and a sub-1.00 WHIP. But the Cleveland Guardians were able to rough him up last Thursday, plating four runs on eight hits and two walks in 5 1-3 frames. Cease struck out only three batters in that tilt.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
Royals: Adalberto Mondesi SS (Questionable).
White Sox: Eloy Jimenez LF (Out), Liam Hendriks RP (Questionable), Luis Robert CF (Probable), Ryan Burr RP (Out), Yoan Moncada 3B (Out)..
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Under is 38-13-1 in the Royals' last 52 games after allowing two runs or fewer in their previous game. Find more MLB betting trends for Royals vs. White Sox
Royals vs White Sox picks and predictions
Our side and total predictions are based upon our analysis of the line and total in this game. Our best bet is our favorite pick across all markets.
Moneyline analysis
Underdog players should happily back the Royals at a big number on Wednesday afternoon.
Zack Greinke will toe the rubber for Kansas City against a White Sox lineup that’s been mired in a season-long funk. This unit is 24th in baseball with a batting average of .211. A year ago, they were fifth at .256.
Injuries have not helped, as Yoan Moncada has yet to suit up in 2022, Eloy Jimenez is expected to miss multiple months, and Luis Robert and Josh Harrison have missed several games each. But the latter two haven’t produced even when healthy, batting .205 and .097, respectively.
Greinke may not be gathering strikeouts like he has in years past, but he should have little difficulty inducing soft contact against this punchless Chicago offense. Once he departs, the Royals’ fourth-ranked bullpen by strikeouts per nine innings (10.49) will take over. Scott Barlow leads this unit with 12 Ks.
Greinke’s opposite number is Dylan Cease, who has held this Royals lineup to a collective .205 batting average. However, there are some bright spots to be found, with Andrew Benintendi (4-for-10) leading the way. He has multiple hits in three of his last four games — including the series opener against the White Sox — and has registered an RBI in three consecutive contests.
Chicago’s bullpen has not been a shut-down unit of late — authoring a 4.22 ERA over the last week — just 22nd in the majors. If closer Liam Hendriks (day-to-day) is unable to pitch again, that may only make matters worse for Tony La Russa’s squad.
Prediction: Royals moneyline (+185 at WynnBET)
Over/Under analysis
Neither the Royals nor the White Sox have been able to boast much success on offense this year. Total bettors should follow the money in this spot.
Kansas City is a modest 26th in runs per game this year (3.27), with the South Siders right behind in 27th (3.13).
Familiar sources of production for the Royals like Whit Merrifield simply haven’t shown up in 2022 — with the former AL hit king batting only .127 this year. It seems unlikely that he’ll bounce back against Cease (2.96 career ERA against the Royals), whom he’s batting just .208 against.
Former AL MVP Jose Abreu is hitting only .218 for the White Sox with a modest two homers and six RBIs. Yasmani Grandal is batting a woeful .152.
In addition to having Greinke on the mound, K.C. also has a solid bullpen that’s 11th by ERA (2.77) over the last week of play.
The weather will only help Under players, as it will be a chilly 40 degrees upon first pitch, with the wind blowing from left field to right field.
Prediction: Under 7.5 (-118 at FanDuel)
Best bet
Though the Royals are a good bet at generous odds on the moneyline, their offense is a bit hard to trust. However, if they lose this game, it shouldn’t be because their pitching staff got rocked.
The White Sox have reached the four-run plateau just once in their last 11 games, and have exceeded it only three times all season.
Tim Anderson has been their best hitter in 2022 (.288), but even he is in a bit of a slump of late, gathering only four hits in his last 27 at-bats (.148). He’s 0-for-6 lifetime against Greinke.
Pick: White Sox team total Under 4 (-102 at FanDuel)
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