The Kansas City Royals will look to grab a road win when they take on the Astros in Houston at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday in baseball odds action.

James Shields gets the ball in front of a hostile crowd for the Royals on this day; he's 2-4 on the season. The Astros, meanwhile, will counter with Jordan Lyles, who will be looking to improve on his 1-1 mark.



View Kansas City vs Houston Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
Baseball odds makers, including Sportsbook, opened the Astros as +171 moneyline underdogs in this matchup. Over under bettors saw the number open at 8 at shops such as Sportsbook.

Power Rankings:
This game puts the Astros, most recently No. 14 in the American League Odds Shark MLB Power Rankings, up against the Royals, who rate an American League No. 5 in the latest survey.



How They Match Up:
The game also pits Houston's No. 13-rated American League offense, averaging 4 runs per game, against a Royals defense that ranks No. 3 in the American League at 4 in runs allowed per game. The Astros have averaged 8.3 hits per game so far, less than Royals batters have averaged on the year (9.2 hits per game).

Houston owns the American League's No. 15 defense, allowing 5.9 men per game to cross the plate. That contrasts with Kansas City's American League No. 3-rated defense.

In their last action, Kansas City was a 7-3 Sportsbook on the road against the Astros. Bettors on Kansas City at -130 on the moneyline collected their winnings from that game, while the total score (10) sent OVER bettors home happy as well. The Royals grabbed a win last time out, defeating Bud Norris and the Astros 7-3 on Tuesday at Minute Maid Park.




Kansas City Royals Trends:
When playing on Wednesday are 2-8
Before playing LA Angels are 4-6
After playing Houston are 5-5
After a win are 5-5

Houston Astros Trends:
When playing on Wednesday are 4-6
Before playing Oakland are 1-9
After playing Kansas City are 3-7
After a loss are 4-6

A few Royals at Astros trends to consider:
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Kansas City's last 15 games
Kansas City is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Houston
Kansas City is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games when playing on the road against Houston
Kansas City is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Houston's last 6 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 15 of Houston's last 21 games
Houston is 2-4 SU in its last 6 games when playing Kansas City
Houston is 3-6 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Kansas City


Next up:
Kansas City home to LA Angels, Thursday, May 23
Houston home to Oakland, Friday, May 24