Guardians at Royals Prediction: Odds, expert picks, starting pitchers, betting trends, and stats for July 25
Despite two homers from Steven Kwan on Thursday, the Guardians lost to the Orioles 4-3, but won the series 3-1. Cleveland is 5-2 in the seven games since the All-Star break and will go to Kansas City for a three-game series.
The Royals are 3-3 in six games after the break and coming off a series win over the Cubs (took 2 of 3). The Guardians are 4-2 against the Royals this season.
Let's dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two. We've got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Guardians at Royals
Date: Friday, July 25, 2025
Time: 8:10PM EST
Site: Kauffman Stadium
City: Kansas City, MO
Network/Streaming: WKYC 3, Apple TV+
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Odds for the Guardians at the Royals
The latest odds as of Friday:
Moneyline: Guardians (-101), Royals (-118)
Spread: Royals 1.5
Total: 8.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Guardians at Royals
Pitching matchup for July 25, 2025: Gavin Williams vs. Michael Wacha
Guardians: Gavin Williams, (6-4, 3.54 ERA)
Last outing: 1.29 ERA, 1 Earned Runs Allowed, 4 Hits Allowed, 1 Walks, and 11 StrikeoutsRoyals: Michael Wacha, (4-9, 3.62 ERA)
Last outing: 1.50 ERA, 1 Earned Runs Allowed, 3 Hits Allowed, 1 Walks, and 1 Strikeouts
Guardians: Gavin Williams, (6-4, 3.54 ERA)
Last outing: 1.29 ERA, 1 Earned Runs Allowed, 4 Hits Allowed, 1 Walks, and 11 Strikeouts
Royals: Michael Wacha, (4-9, 3.62 ERA)
Last outing: 1.50 ERA, 1 Earned Runs Allowed, 3 Hits Allowed, 1 Walks, and 1 Strikeouts
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Expert picks & predictions for tonight's game between the Guardians and the Royals
'In the first 24 games of the 67 one second-half of the schedule are the Athletics, Orioles, Royals, Rockies, Twins, Mets, White Sox, and Marlins -- beautiful!
Cleveland took the series against the A's, 2-1 and beat the O's in three of four — so far so good at 5-2 in seven games.
The Guardians have the easiest strength of schedule remaining in the MLB and need a 34-33 record over the second half to secure 80-plus wins, which I believe is more than possible.'
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Friday's game between the Guardians and the Royals:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Cleveland Guardians on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Cleveland Guardians at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the over on the Game Total of 8.0.
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC.
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Guardians at Royals
Cleveland is 5-2 in the last seven games
Kansas City is 3-3 in the last six games
The Guardians have won 4 of their last 5 road series
5 of the Royals' last 7 home games stayed under the Total
The Guardians have covered the Run Line in 3 straight road games against the Royals
If you're looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
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For the first time in his young career, 22-year-old first baseman Nick Kurtz was named AL Player of the Week on Monday after his highly productive showing in the Athletics' first series of the second half vs. Cleveland. With the All-Star festivities having put a pause on the regular season, this award, doled out weekly by the league office, didn't cover the usual sample of six or seven games played over a week. Instead, it highlighted just the first weekend after the break. And in that abbreviated sample, Kurtz mashed to an outstanding degree, collecting multiple hits in all three games at Progressive Field, including five of the extra-base variety. On the surface, it's a modest accomplishment for the rookie first baseman, the first official accolade in a career that promises to feature plenty more. At the same time, 'player of the week' wholly undersells what Kurtz has been doing at the plate lately. Because he was not just the star of this past week(end). 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