The Chicago White Sox (4-8) travel to Kauffman Stadium on Thursday to open a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals (5-7). It’s a matchup of two teams looking to snap modest losing streaks and move north in the American League Central standings.
Chicago heads on the road this weekend owning a 1-5 record away from the Windy City and riding a three-game losing streak. Along those same lines, the Royals are looking to snap a two-game skid of their own. KC is looking to continue what has been a dominant run at home against the ChiSox having knocked them off 14 straight times. Royals’ pitchers have allowed just 17 runs during their 14-game home winning streak against Chicago.
On the mound, Kansas City looks to veteran right-hander Seth Lugo (1-0, 1.59 ERA) to help get them back in the win column. Last season, the White Sox scored just three runs over 12 innings against Lugo. Opposing the veteran hurler will be left-hander Anthony Kay (0-0, 4.00 ERA), who is back in a big league starting rotation for the first time since 2021.
Offensively, the Royals will rely on Maikel Garcia, who has 13 hits over his last 10 games, and rookie Carter Jensen to spark their offense, which has struggled with runners in scoring position this season. For the White Sox, power hitter Munetaka Murakami, who has four home runs this season, will need to produce in a lineup that has scored just 41 runs this season (no team has scored fewer runs).
Lets dive into tonight’s 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 the 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 and How to Watch: White Sox vs. Royals
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Date: Thursday, April 9, 2026
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Network/Streaming: MLB.TV, CSNA, Royals.TV
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The Latest Odds: White Sox vs. Royals
The latest odds as of Thursday courtesy of DraftKings:
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Moneyline: White Sox (+153), Royals (-186)
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Spread: White Sox +1.5 (-131) / Royals -1.5 (+109)
Probable Starting Pitchers: White Sox vs. Royals
Pitching matchup for April 9:
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White Sox: Anthony Kay
Season Totals: 9.0 IP, 0-0, 4.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 5K, 6 BB -
Royals: Seth Lugo
Season Totals: 11.1 IP, 1-0, 1.59 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 10K, 2 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not! White Sox vs. Royals
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Rookie Carter Jensen is 5-14 over his last 4 games
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Munetaka Murakami is hitting only .205 but has smacked 4 HRs
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Bobby Witt Jr. is 5-15 over his last 4 games
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Luisangel Acuna is 7-24 (.292) in April
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Andrew Benintendi is 3-20 (.150) in April
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Top Betting Trends & Insights: White Sox vs. Royals
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The White Sox are 5-7 on the Run Line this season
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The Royals are also 5-7 on the Run Line this season
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The OVER has cashed just 4 times in the Royals’ 12 games this season (4-8)
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The OVER has cashed 8 times in Chicago’s 12 games (8-4)
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!
Expert picks & predictions: White Sox vs. Royals
Rotoworld Bet Best Bet
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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 Thursday’s game between the White Sox and the Royals:
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Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline.
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Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Royals on the Run Line.
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Total: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on the Game Total UNDER 9.0.
Follow our experts on socials to keep up with all the latest content from the staff:
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Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
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Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
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Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
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