Cubs vs. Royals prediction and odds for Sunday, Aug. 21 (Belli vs. Witt Jr.)

Bobby Witt Jr. and Cody Bellinger are two of the hottest hitters in baseball and they’ve each won their team a game in this series.

On Friday, Witt Jr. drove in two runs and hit a go-ahead homer in the Kansas City Royals 4-3 win and yesterday Cody Bellinger drove in four runs in the Chicago Cubs 6-4 victory. 

Now, they’ll head into the rubber match with the Cubs at 63-59 and the Royals 40-84. The Cubs are three games back of first in the NL Central and will send Kyle Hendricks to the mound at home today.

Hendricks is 4-6 with a 4.00 ERA in 16 starts this year and will be opposed by 3-13 Jordan Lyles. Lyles has a 6.30 ERA and has made 23 starts for Kansas City. 

The Cubs are home favorites in the series finale. It’s Lyles vs. Hendricks on the mound, but Witt Jr. vs. Bellinger is the more fun matchup between Chicago and Kansas City. 

Cubs vs. Royals odds, run line and total

Cubs vs. Royals prediction and pick

Cody Bellinger has been one of the best hitters in baseball all season in his resurgent year, but he’s really turned it up in the second half.

Since the All-Star break, he’s MVP Belli again with a National League best 1.100 OPS and 11 home runs with 34 runs driven in. He’s hitting .373 over that stretch and the Cubs are second in team OPS mostly because of his success. 

Bobby Witt Jr. is carrying the Royals just the same. He has turned into a superstar in the second half with a 1.040 OPS and 10 home runs with 32 RBI. They both have 37 hits since the break which ranks third in the MLB. In the past week alone Witt has hit three homers. 

The Royals are ninth in OPS since the All-Star break and 10th in runs scored. However, the Royals are 24th in ERA over that stretch which is why they’re only 14-20 instead of closer to .500 with their improved offense. 

Jordan Lyles collected a couple of wins for the Royals in his last few starts, but last time out he allowed seven runs over five innings and returned to just simply an unsuccessful innings eater.

With the total at 9.5 and Lyles on the hill, I like the over. These lineups are just too good right now. 

Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change