In this article we will formulate a Kansas City Royals vs Tampa Bay Rays prediction for this MLB game on Tuesday, July 2nd at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Let’s take a look at the prediction for game one in the series.
Royals Coming Off Huge Series Win
The Kansas City Royals are 47-39 this year and they have won four of their last five games. Kansas City is coming off of a series win against Cleveland, where they won three out of four games. Prior to that series, the Royals won two out of three against the Marlins, lost all three against the Rangers, and lost two out of three against the Athletics. Kansas City is 5-2 in their last seven games and they are third in the AL Central.
The Kansas City pitching staff has a 3.76 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, and a .241 opponent batting average. The Royals offense has scored 392 runs with a .245 batting average and a .307 on base percentage. Bobby Witt is batting .312 with 12 home runs and 54 RBI’s for the Royals this season. Kansas City has scored at least five runs in three of their last five games.
Rays are Back to .500
The Tampa Bay Rays are 42-42 this season and they have won five of their last seven games. Tampa Bay is coming off of a series win against Washington, where they won two out of three games. Prior to that series, the Rays won two out of three against the Mariners, won two out of three against the Pirates, and won two out of three against the Twins. Tampa Bay is 8-3 in their last 11 games and they are fourth in the AL East.
The Tampa Bay pitching staff has a 4.29 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP, and a .244 opponent batting average. The Rays offense has scored 337 runs with a .236 batting average and a .309 on base percentage. Randy Arozarena is batting .196 with 11 home runs and 28 RBI’s for the Rays this season. Tampa Bay has allowed three runs or fewer in five of their last seven games.
Starting Pitchers
The projected starting pitcher for Kansas City is Brady Singer, who is 4-4 with a 3.12 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP over 89.1 innings pitched this season. Singer has allowed two earned runs or fewer in three of his last five starts. The projected starting pitcher for Tampa Bay is Zack Littell, who is 2-5 with a 4.17 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP over 86.1 innings pitched this year. Littell has allowed two earned runs or fewer in two straight starts, but has not gone more than five innings in his last three outings.
Why the Rays will beat the Royals
- The Rays have won three of their last four games as road underdogs.
- The Royals have lost four of their last six games as home favorites against AL East opponents.
- The Rays have covered the run line in each of their last seven games as road underdogs against AL Central opponents.
- The Royals have failed to cover the run line in four of their last five games against AL East opponents.
- The Royals have lost the first inning in each of their last four night games against AL East opponents.
- The Rays have led after 3 innings in each of their last three games as underdogs.
- The Royals have trailed after 5 innings in four of their last six games as home favorites against AL East opponents.
Total Runs Facts
- Six of the Royals’ last seven games as favorites have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Four of the Rays’ last five games as underdogs against AL Central opponents have gone OVER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Royals’ last four games as home favorites against American League opponents.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Rays’ last three night games at Kauffman Stadium.
Kansas City Royals Player Prop Facts
- Bobby Witt Jr. has hit a home run in three of the Royals’ last four games against the Rays.
- Bobby Witt Jr. has recorded a Double in three of the Royals’ last four games as home favorites against AL East opponents.
- Hunter Renfroe has recorded two or more total bases in each of his last seven appearances with the Royals as favorites against AL opponents.
- Hunter Renfroe has scored at least one run in seven of his last eight appearances with the Royals as favorites against AL opponents.
- Vinnie Pasquantino has recorded at least one RBI in each of the Royals’ last nine home games.
- Vinnie Pasquantino has recorded at least one Single in each of the Royals’ last four games as favorites.
- Brady Singer has recorded five or more strikeouts in each of his last four home appearances against AL opponents.
- Vinnie Pasquantino has recorded at least one hit in each of the Royals’ last nine games as home favorites.
- Bobby Witt Jr. ranks 4th in the league in Steals (22) this season.
Tampa Bay Rays Player Prop Facts
- Brandon Lowe has hit a home run in each of the Rays’ last two games at Kauffman Stadium against opponents that held a winning record.
- Yandy Diaz has recorded at least one RBI in each of the Rays’ last six games as underdogs.
- Isaac Paredes has recorded a Single in each of the Rays’ last eight games as underdogs against AL Central opponents.
- Brandon Lowe has scored at least one run in seven of his last eight road appearances after not playing the previous day.
- Isaac Paredes has recorded at least one hit in each of the Rays’ last nine road games against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- Isaac Paredes has recorded at least one total base in each of the Rays’ last nine road games against AL opponents that held a winning record.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Kansas City Royals rank 2nd in the league for triples this season (23).
- The Kansas City Royals rank 3rd in the league for strikeouts against this season (605).
- The Tampa Bay Rays rank 29th in the league for home runs allowed this season (114).
- The Tampa Bay Rays are one of only 4 teams in the league to rank top 10 in both strikeouts and walks allowed this season.
Kansas City Royals vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction
Both of these teams come into this series playing very well, but Kansas City has a much better record on the season. The Royals are 30-16 at home, while the Rays are 19-17 on the road. Tampa Bay is playing their best baseball of the season and Littell is looking for his third straight solid start. Kansas City looks to be back to their early season form and they will start Singer, who has been mostly good recently. I am a big fan of this Royals team, but Tampa Bay is playing lights out right now and I like what Littell has shown recently. My Kansas City Royals vs Tampa Bay Rays prediction is for the Rays to win.