BEST LINE: Pinnacle -1 +119 

The Royals were just swept at home by the Astros and were outscored in that three-game series, 21-5. The Royals offense remains dead last in the majors in home-runs and in extra-base hits. Now this putrid offense will face a knuckler that is quietly throwing as good as any pitcher in baseball. R.A. Dickey has elite numbers across the board over his past six starts. Over that span he’s pitched six full or more in every start and has allowed two runs or less in five of them. The only start over that span in which he allowed more than two runs was at Texas, where he allowed three runs. Dickey’s groundball/line-drive/fly-ball rate over his last six games is an elite 57%/8%/36%. Overall, he’s 5-1 at Rogers Center with an ERA of 2.89 and these reeling Royals don’t figure to do much, if any damage against him

The Blue Jays are coming off six games against two extremely tough pitching staffs in Oakland and Tampa Bay. Six wins later and now Toronto’s winning streak is at nine. Now this potent offense will see James Shields and his misleading 2.95 ERA. Shields’ has been tagged for 42 hits over his past 33 innings. An unsustainable 80% strand rate has kept his ERA in check. The Jays figure to cash some of those base-runners that his WHIP says he'll allow.  Over his last five starts, Shields has a WHIP of 1.44 and that high mark should never coincide with an ERA under 3.00. Furthermore, because they are not winning or scoring runs, K.C's starters feel they have to be near perfect to win. That’s added pressure before they even throw the first pitch. Regression analysis is in play here against James Shields versus the hottest team in baseball.