It’s Tuesday, July 8 and the Pirates (38-54) are in Kansas City to take on the Royals (44-48). Mitch Keller is slated to take the mound for Pittsburgh against Seth Lugo for Kansas City.

Our Pirates vs. Royals predictions are banking on a big game from Oneil Cruz. The Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals have gone through their share of struggles offensively this season, ranking 29th and 30th in runs per game.

The Pirates are an underdog (+118 on the moneyline to win) when they take on the Royals (-141). The Kansas City Royals will give the start to Seth Lugo (6-5, 2.65 ERA), who is looking for win No. 7 on the season,

Paul Skenes, who was named a National League All-Star on Sunday, started the rubber match of the series in Seattle. He struck out 10 across five scoreless innings before being removed at just 78 pitches. The Pirates surrendered a home run in the sixth inning and lost the game, 1–0.

The Pittsburgh irates just had a wild ride, thanks to a back-to-back set against the Cardinals and the Mariners.

A few days ago, a report surfaced out of Pittsburgh from Noah Hiles of the Post-Gazette, noting that the Phillies were actively kicking the tires on a pair of Pirates relievers, Dennis Santana and David Bednar. Hiles goes on to mention that the interest has been there in Santana “for quite some time.”