Kansas City Royals vs. Cleveland Indians Odds, Analysis, MLB Betting Pick

The Cleveland Indians (2-4) will attempt to end a two-game MLB losing streak when they play the first of three games against the Kansas City Royals (1-3) on Friday as big home favorites.

Cleveland will finally be playing its home opener at Progressive Field, while Kansas City has seen two of its last four games get postponed due to poor weather conditions in Chicago and Detroit.

MLB betting line: The Indians opened as -231 favorites (wager $231 to win $100); the total is at 7.5 runs, according to sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark. (Line updates and matchup report)

MLB betting pick, via OddsShark computer:4.8-3.8, Indians (MLB picks on every game)

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Why the Royals can pay on the MLB lines

The Royals are well-rested considering they have not played since picking up a 1-0 victory against the Tigers on Tuesday, with starting pitcher Danny Duffy (0-1, 11.25 ERA) perhaps the biggest benefactor of that situation.

Duffy got roughed up for five runs and seven hits in four innings of a 14-7 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Opening Day and was scheduled to make his second start on Wednesday at Detroit. Instead, he will have seven days off between starts, which should help him bounce back.

Why the Indians can pay on the MLB lines

First of all, Duffy went 0-3 against the Indians last season with a 4.60 ERA in three starts. Second, he was just 5-5 with a 4.06 ERA on the road a year ago—much higher than his 3.48 ERA at home.

Cleveland will be sending Carlos Carrasco (1-0, 7.94) to the mound opposite Duffy, and he too will be looking to rebound from a tough outing. However, Carrasco was fortunate enough to still pick up a win despite surrendering five runs and seven hits in 5.2 innings of a 6-5 victory thanks to a strong offensive performance.

He served up two home runs to the Seattle Mariners in that game, and Kansas City has hit only one as a team in four games so far this year.

Smart betting pick

The Indians have won six of the past seven meetings with the Royals, according to the OddsShark MLB Database, along with nine of 11. They were 12-7 in the series overall last season en route to winning their second straight American League Central title.

With such a large price on Cleveland, the runline is worth a wager considering eight of the team's last 10 wins in the series have been decided by two runs or more.

MLB betting trends

Kansas City is 1-4 in its last five games.

Kansas City is 2-4 in its last six games on the road.

The total has gone under in 13 of Cleveland's last 19 games at home.

All MLB odds and betting trends courtesy of Bleacher Report’s official odds partner, OddsShark. Check out OddsShark on Twitter and Instagram or head to YouTube for more betting picks and analysis on this week's top games. You can also download the free odds tracker app.