Pirates vs Royals Picks and Prediction – 7/8/2025

The Pittsburgh Pirates play the second game of a three-game series on the road Tuesday versus the Kansas City Royals. Pittsburgh dropped to 38-53 following Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners. Pittsburgh was shut out in each of its three games versus Seattle. Pittsburgh is last in the National League Central, 16 ½ games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs. Keep up to date with all the MLB action with our expert MLB picks.

Andrew McCutchen is batting .261 with an on-base percentage of .342 to lead Pittsburgh in both categories. Oneil Cruz leads in home runs with 15, while Bryan Reynolds leads in RBI with 45 and hits with 76. Pittsburgh is batting .231 with a .341 slugging percentage. On Tuesday, Pittsburgh will send Mitch Keller to the mound. The right-hander is 3-10 with a 3.64 ERA, 84 Ks, and 26 BBs.

The Kansas City Royals improved to 43-48 following Sunday’s 4-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Michael Lorenzen had seven strikeouts in seven strong innings on the mound for the Royals. Bobby Witt Jr homered for Kansas City. The Royals have won three of the last four. Kansas City is third in the American League Central, 14 games behind the first-place Detroit Tigers. 

Maikel Garcia is batting .303 with an on-base percentage of .361 to lead Kansas City in both categories. Vinnie Pasquantino leads Kansas City in home runs with 14 and RBI with 55, while Bobby Witt Jr leads in hits with 105. On Tuesday, the Kansas City Royals will send Seth Lugo to the mound. The right-hander is 6-5 with a 2.65 ERA, 83 Ks, and 30 BBs.

Kansas City will win at home on Tuesday when hosting Pittsburgh, but the play here is UNDER. The UNDER has cashed in each of Pittsburgh's last six and 11 of Kansas City's last 15. Pittsburgh starter Mitch Keller has had four consecutive strong outings, allowing five runs on 16 hits across 24 innings. Kansas City starter Seth Lugo has performed well in each of the last five outings, allowing three runs on 17 hits across 30 innings. Final Score Prediction: Kansas City Royals win by our best play is UNDER 4-1