Tampa Bay Rays vs Kansas City Royals Prediction 5-24-24 Picks

In this article we will formulate a Tampa Bay Rays vs Kansas City Royals prediction for this MLB game on Friday, May 24th at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Let’s take a look at the prediction for game one in the series. 

Rays Look to Snap Skid 

The Tampa Bay Rays are 25-26 this year and they have lost four games in a row. Tampa Bay is coming off of a series loss against Boston, where they lost all three games by scores of 5-0, 5-2, and 8-5. Prior to that series, the Rays won two out of three against Toronto, won two out of three against Boston, and lost two out of three against the Yankees. Tampa Bay is 6-6 in their last 12 games, but they are fourth in the AL East behind the Yankees, Orioles, and Red Sox. 

The Tampa Bay pitching staff has a 4.38 ERA, a 1.24 WHIP, and a .242 opponent batting average. The Rays offense has scored 205 runs with a .239 batting average and a .310 on base percentage. Yandy Diaz is batting .255 with four home runs and 25 RBI’s for the Rays this season. Tampa Bay is 22nd in team ERA this season and they have allowed at least five runs in four straight games. 

Royals Going for Seven Straight 

The Kansas City Royals are 32-19 this season and they have won six games in a row. Kansas City is coming off of a series sweep against the Tigers, where they won all three games by scores of 8-3, 10-3, and 8-3. Prior to that series, the Royals swept Oakland in three games, lost two out of three against Seattle, and won three out of four against the Angels. Kansas City has won 11 of their last 14 games and they are second in the AL Central, just 1.5 games behind the Guardians. 

The Kansas City pitching staff has a 3.40 ERA, a 1.24 WHIP, and a .237 opponent batting average. The Royals offense has scored 247 runs with a .250 batting average and a .311 on base percentage. Bobby Witt is batting .308 with seven home runs and 33 RBI’s for the Royals this season. Kansas City is eighth in team ERA and fourth in runs scored this season, and they have scored at least five runs in six straight games. 

Starting Pitchers

The projected starting pitcher for Kansas City is Seth Lugo, who is 7-1 with a 1.79 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP over 65.1 innings pitched this year. Lugo has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five straight starts, and he has gone at least 6.2 innings in four of those outings. The projected starting pitcher for Tampa Bay is Shawn Armstrong, who is 1-1 with a 4.03 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP over 22.1 innings pitched this season. Armstrong will open the game for most likely just one inning, then turn things over to Tyler Alexander, who has a 5.17 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP this year. 

Why the Kansas City Royals will win

The Royals have won each of their last nine Friday games against American League opponents.
The Rays have lost each of their last four games.
The Royals have covered the run line in each of their last seven games as favorites against American League opponents following a home win.
The Rays have failed to cover the run line in each of their last four games.
The Royals have won the first inning in each of their last four night games against American League opponents that held a losing record.
The Royals have led after 3 innings in each of their last four games.
The Royals have led after 5 innings in each of their last six games against American League opponents that held a losing record.

Total Runs Facts

Seven of the Royals’ last eight games against AL East opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
Each of the Rays’ last four games as underdogs against the Royals have gone UNDER the total runs line.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Rays’ last six games against AL Central opponents.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Royals’ last four road games.

Matchup/League Facts

The Tampa Bay Rays rank 29th in the league for home runs allowed this season (67).
The Tampa Bay Rays rank 27th in the league for doubles this season (69).
The Kansas City Royals rank T2nd in the league for triples this season (13).
The Kansas City Royals rank 2nd in the league for strikeouts against this season (352).

Tampa Bay Rays vs Kansas City Royals Prediction 

Kansas City comes into this matchup as one of the hottest teams in the MLB, but they are only 11-11 on the road. Tampa Bay is still trying to find their game this season and they are below .500 at home. The Rays have had issues with their starting pitching and I don’t love Alexander on the mound for the bulk of the work in this one. Seth Lugo has been dominant so far this year and I think he has another solid outing against a Rays team that only scored seven runs in the Boston series. My Tampa Bay Rays vs Kansas City Royals prediction is for the Royals to win.