Fenway Park hosts an MLB battle between the Boston Red Sox and the visiting Kansas City Royals on Friday.

Kansas City puts its faith in starter James Shields to earn a win and boost his personal mark of 1-2. Getting the ball for the Red Sox is Clay Buchholz, who owns a 3-0 record on the season with a 0.41 ERA.



View Kansas City vs Boston Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
Those going with the Red Sox in this one found them listed as moneyline favorites of -135 at Sportsbook for Monday's contest. The total was hovering near 8.5 at Sportsbook.

Power Rankings:
This game matches up the No. 3 (Red Sox) and the No. 6 (Royals) teams in their respective leagues, according to our current MLB Power Rankings.



How They Match Up:
The game also pits Boston's No. 3-rated American League offense, averaging 5 runs per game, against a Royals defense that ranks No. 3 in the American League at 3.4 in runs allowed per game. The Red Sox have averaged 8.8 hits per game so far, less than Royals batters have averaged on the year (9 hits per game).

Boston owns the American League's No. 1 defense, allowing 2.8 men per game to cross the plate. That contrasts with Kansas City's American League No. 3-rated defense.

The Royals were a 1-0 Sportsbook in their most recent outing on the road against the Braves. That made Sportsbooks of bettors who got Kansas City at +157 on the moneyline, while the total score (1) was good news for UNDER bettors. Kansas City threw a shutout at Atlanta in their last outing, using a shutdown performance by Wade Davis to defeat Atlanta 1-0 on Wednesday.

In their last action, Boston was a 6-3 Sportsbook on the road against the Indians. Bettors on Boston at -122 on the moneyline collected their winnings from that game, while the total score (9) sent OVER bettors home happy as well. The Red Sox grabbed a win last time out, defeating Zach McAllister and the Indians 6-3 on Thursday at Progressive Field.


Kansas City Royals Trends:
When playing on Friday are 7-3
Before playing Boston are 3-7
After playing Atlanta are 4-3
After a win are 4-6

Boston Red Sox Trends:
When playing on Friday are 6-4
Before playing Kansas City are 5-5
After playing Cleveland are 8-2
After a win are 7-3

A few Royals at Red Sox trends to consider:
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Kansas City's last 16 games
Kansas City is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games
Kansas City is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games on the road
Kansas City is 5-11 SU in its last 16 games on the road
Boston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Boston's last 9 games at home
Boston is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Kansas City
Boston is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games at home


Next up:
Kansas City at Boston, Saturday, April 20