It’s Tuesday, July 8 and the Pirates (38-54) are in Kansas City to take on the Royals (44-48). Mitch Keller is slated to take the mound for Pittsburgh against Seth Lugo for Kansas City.
Kansas City won game 1 of the series in dominant fashion, 9-3, as the Royals are now 4-1 in the last five games. For the Pirates, Pittsburgh is on a four-game losing streak with three total runs scored.
After Pittsburgh went on a 43-run effort over six games (6-0 record), the Pirates have lost the next four games and went scoreless in three of them (series reverse sweep via the Mets).
Let’s dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two. We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Pirates at Royals
- Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2025
- Time: 7:40PM EST
- Site: Kauffman Stadium
- City: Kansas City, MO
- Network/Streaming: SNP, FDSNKC
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Odds for the Pirates at the Royals
The latest odds as of Tuesday:
- Moneyline: Pirates (+118), Royals (-141)
- Spread: Royals -1.5
- Total: 8.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Pirates at Royals
- Pitching matchup for July 8, 2025: Mitch Keller vs. Seth Lugo
- Pirates: Mitch Keller, (3-10, 3.64 ERA)
Last outing: 7.0 Innings Pitched, 0 Earned Runs Allowed, 5 Hits Allowed, 1 Walk, and 7 Strikeouts - Royals: Seth Lugo, (6-5, 2.65 ERA)
Last outing: 6.1 Innings Pitched, 1 Earned Runs Allowed, 6 Hits Allowed, 2 Walks, and 7 Strikeouts
- Pirates: Mitch Keller, (3-10, 3.64 ERA)
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Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Pirates and the Royals
Rotoworld Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Tuesday’s game between the Pirates and the Royals:
- Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline.
- Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Pittsburgh Pirates at +1.5.
- Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the over on the Game Total of 8.0.
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC.
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Pirates at Royals
- Pittsburgh is 5-13 this season when Keller pitches
- Kansas City is 7-8 this season when Lugo pitches
- The Pirates have lost four straight games and went Under the total in all four
- 4 of the Royals’ last 5 games (80%) have stayed under the Total
- The Royals have covered in 4 of their last 5 games showing a profit of 1.20 units
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
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- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
- Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
- Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
- Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)
