Royals vs. Rays Pick
Will the Kansas City Royals upset the Tampa Bay Rays on the road once again when the two meet tonight at 7:10PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Rays are favored at home, as they are getting odds of -150 to win, while the Royals are getting odds of +130 to win. The over/under total for the game is listed at 8 runs.
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The Royals put Chris Young (0-0, 4.22 ERA) on the mound to face Matt Andriese (2-1, 3.09) of the Rays. Andriese has had back-to-back 7-inning outings and he has lowered his WHIP to 1.29 for the season. Young is making his first start of the season. He has seen some long relief on the year, but only in losing efforts. He has allowed 5 earned runs in 10.2 innings of work with seven strikeouts and four walks.
The Royals took the first game of the series on Monday night, 7-3. Kansas City is now 11-20 overall and 3-11 this season while Tampa comes into tonight’s contest 16-18 overall and 11-8 at home.
The two teams combined for 21 hits in Monday’s game, but it was the Royals that were aided by four Tampa Bay errors in the win. Blake Snell lasted only five innings in the loss while Austin Pruitt allowed three runs in two innings of relief. Nate Karns struck out 10 in 6.1 innings of work for the Royals. Backup catcher Drew Butera led KC at the plate with two hits and two RBI while Eric Hosmer was 3-of-5 hitting.
The Royals had a nice win on Monday, but look for the Rays to bounce back tonight. Andriese has been steady at home, going 7-2 in his last 9 home starts against a losing team. The Royals have yet to win when Young has thrown a pitch and they are 1-8 in their last 9 games on the road. You just can’t expect Young to go very long in this game either, as he is accustomed to short stints. Look for him to get chased quickly and the Rays to add some insurance runs on the KC bullpen.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: TAMPA BAY RAYS -150