The Toronto Blue Jays battle the visiting Kansas City Royals on Thursday in MLB betting action at Rogers Centre.

For the Blue Jays, Brett Cecil gets the ball, charged with keeping the Royals hitters off the base paths. He'll face Jeff Francis, 4-14 on the year.



View Kansas City vs Toronto Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
Baseball odds makers opened the Blue Jays as -175 moneyline favorites in this matchup. Over under bettors saw the number open at 9.

Power Rankings:
This game matches up the No. 6 (Blue Jays) and the No. 9 (Royals) teams in their respective leagues, according to our current MLB Power Rankings.



How They Match Up:
The game also pits Toronto's No. 4-rated American League offense, averaging 4.7 runs per game, against a Royals defense that ranks No. 12 in the American League at 4.8 in runs allowed per game. The Blue Jays have averaged 8.7 hits per game so far, less than Royals batters have averaged on the year (9.3 hits per game).

Kansas City brings the American League's No. 12-rated defense to this matchup, facing the Blue Jays' league No. 11-ranked defense.

In their last action, Kansas City was a 4-3 loser on the road against the Blue Jays. Bettors on Toronto at -180 on the moneyline collected their winnings from that game, while the total score (7) sent UNDER bettors home happy as well. Kansas City looks to rebound from a loss to the Blue Jays, who beat them 4-3 on Wednesday behind a start from Ricky Romero at Rogers Centre.




Kansas City Royals Trends:
When playing on Thursday are 5-5
Before playing Cleveland are 3-7
After playing Toronto are 4-6
After a loss are 4-6

Toronto Blue Jays Trends:
When playing on Thursday are 5-5
Before playing Tampa Bay are 5-5
After playing Kansas City are 5-5
After a win are 3-7

A few Royals at Blue Jays trends to consider:
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Kansas City's last 7 games when playing on the road against Toronto
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Kansas City's last 7 games
Kansas City is 4-12 SU in its last 16 games
Kansas City is 3-10 SU in its last 13 games when playing on the road against Toronto
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Toronto's last 7 games when playing at home against Kansas City
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Toronto's last 5 games
Toronto is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games when playing at home against Kansas City
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Toronto's last 7 games at home


Next up:
Kansas City at Cleveland, Friday, August 26
Toronto home to Tampa Bay, Friday, August 26