Rays vs. Royals Pick
Will the Tampa Bay Rays get to the .500 mark tonight and pick up another road win over the Kansas City Royals when the two meet tonight at 8:15PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Kansas City is the slight favorite in this game, as the Royals are getting odds of -110 to win. The Rays are listed with odds of +100 to win, while the over/under total has been set at 9.5 runs.
MLB Quick Links: Scores & Matchups | Injuries | Odds Comparison | Betting Trends | ATS Stats
The pitching matchup for tonight’s game has Alex Cobb (9-8, 3.69 ERA) on the mound for the Rays to face Jake Junis (5-2, 4.68) of the Royals. Cobb has allowed just one run over his last 10.1 innings on the mound. Cobb now has 101 strikeouts with 38 walks and a 1.22 WHIP. Junis has been up-and-down in recent starts, allowing two runs or less in four of his last six outings, but at least four in the other two. Junis has 49 strikeouts this season with 18 walks and a 1.37 WHIP.
The Rays picked up a 12-0 win over the Royals on Monday night, handing the Royals their fourth straight shutout loss. Kansas City is now 64-66 overall and 35-31 at home. Tampa Bay is 66-67 overall and 32-34 on the road.
Austin Pruitt, who has a 5.27 ERA this season, managed to pitch six innings of 1-hit ball against the Royals on Monday. He earned his seventh win with the effort. Ian Kennedy gave up seven runs in just 2.2 innings to fall to 4-10 on the season. Logan Morrison hit his 32nd home run of the season and drove in four runs to lead the Rays in the win. Lucas Duda added a home run with three RBI.
I thought Kansas City would break out of its slump on Monday against Pruitt, but it didn’t happen. If the Royals can’t score on Pruitt, I don’t have a lot of faith that things will change against a pitcher like Cobb. Junis hasn’t been terrible on the mound, but he is going to need some run support to win. It’s hard to expect that to happen given KC’s four straight games of being held scoreless.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: TAMPA BAY RAYS +100