3 PUNDITS · 1 BAR · OPEN TAB
The Believer7:08 PM
Kansas City have their team back. Garcia is in the four hole after forty-six games out, Pasquantino behind him, and both of them hit the moment they walked back in. Now they get a kid on the mound who has walked twenty men across five starts. Royals, and it won't be a quiet night.
The Quant7:09 PM
Over 8 at 1.75 with Pinnacle. The half-line below it pays out if this lands on exactly eight runs, where this one only hands my stake back, so I'm giving that case away on purpose. What I get for it is a better price on every other way the night can go. I've got the Royals winning with ten runs in the game, so I'm not relying on the eight.
The Skeptic7:11 PM
He's right about the bet and wrong about who wins. Lugo has given up seventeen earned runs in his last five starts. That's not a man who shuts anybody down. The visitors will help themselves, and I've got them nicking it.
The Believer7:12 PM
Finally, he backs something. He's still wrong though. Lugo doesn't have to be good tonight, he has to be adequate while that order does the work. Seven for the Royals, and watch it happen.
FT CALL · KANSAS CITY ROYALS 7–4
The Skeptic7:14 PM
Adequate. He's building a night on adequate. The runs are there either way. I just think the wrong team scores the last one.
FT CALL · ATHLETICS 6–5
The Quant7:15 PM
Two starters both pitching worse than their season numbers, and one of them can't find the plate. It matters less than you'd think which side scores them. They get scored.
FT CALL · KANSAS CITY ROYALS 6–4
THE BARTENDER · LAST CALL
All three want the same bet and only two of them want the same winner. Kansas City have just put Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino back into the middle of their order — Garcia after forty-six games out — and both hit immediately on their return, against a wild young left-hander who has walked twenty men across his last five starts. The catch the Skeptic keeps pointing at is that Seth Lugo has given up seventeen earned runs across his own last five, so nobody at the table expects a tidy game. The Believer and the Quant have the Royals winning it, the Skeptic thinks the Athletics steal it, and all three of them expect runs.
THE BAR CALLS ITKANSAS CITY ROYALS 6–4scoreline call — the pick is pinned below