The Kansas City Royals and the Tampa Bay Rays meet Saturday in MLB action from Tropicana Field. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Tampa Bay Rays vs Kansas City Royals Prediction.
Starting Pitching Matchup
The Kansas City Royals will send out Brady Singer for the start here and Singer is 4-2 with a 2.70 ERA and 61 strikeouts this season. In his career, Singer is 1-1 with a 5.16 ERA and 26 strikeouts against Tampa Bay. Aaron Civale will get the start for the Rays here and is 2-4 with a 5.92 ERA and 52 strikeouts this season. In his last five starts against the Royals, Civale is 4-0 with a 1.59 ERA and 34 strikeouts.
Kansas City Royals Recap
The Kansas City Royals come into this one looking to build on their 7-game win streak thanks to an 8-1 win over the Rays in Friday’s series opener. The win helped KC build on series sweeps of the A’s and Tigers over the last week.
Royals Still Rolling At The Plate Over Win Streak
Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals with 62 hits including 8 home runs, 34 RBIs and team-highs of 6 triples and 15 RBIs with 16 stolen bases. Salvador Perez also has a team-high 9 home runs with 39 RBIs and 11 doubles. Nelson Velazquez also has a team-high 46 strikeouts while Maikel Garcia has 5 home runs, 32 RBIs and 13 stolen bases along with 3 triples and 12 doubles this season. Vinnie Pasquantino has 13 doubles with 5 homers and 31 RBIs of his own on the year.
Why the Kansas City Royals will win
- The Royals have won each of their last seven games.
- The Rays have lost seven of their last eight games at Tropicana Field.
- The Royals have covered the run line each of their last seven games against teams that held a losing record.
- The Rays have failed to cover the run line in seven of their last eight games at Tropicana Field.
- The Royals have led after 5 innings in each of their last seven games against American League opponents that held a losing record.
Tampa Bay Rays Recap
The Tampa Bay Rays will look to rebound and bounce back after Friday’s loss pushed their losing streak to five games, following up a series sweep at the hands of the Boston Red Sox in their last start.
Rays Struggling To Find Offense During Skid
Isaac Paredes leads the Rays across the board with 54 hits, 9 home runs, 28 RBIs and a .307 batting average as well as a .392 OBP. Yandy Diaz has 52 hits with a team-high 10 doubles while Jose Caballero has a team-high 18 stolen bases. Randy Arozarena has 8 home runs, 18 RBIs along with a team-high 63 strikeouts and 7 stolen bases.
Why the Tampa Bay Rays will win
- The Royals have lost 17 of their last 18 games against AL East opponents following a road win.
- The Rays have won each of their last eight Saturday day games against American League opponents.
- The Royals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last seven Saturday games against AL East opponents.
- The Rays have covered the run line in four of their last five games against the Royals following a loss.
- The Rays have led after 3 innings in each of their last five day games against the Royals at Tropicana Field.
Tampa Bay Rays vs Kansas City Royals Prediction
I’m on the Royals here. Brady Singer has had issues on the road, more so compared to his numbers at home, but I still think he’s the better option here and the Royals as a team have been the better option side-by-side over the last week or so. The Rays are just having troubles with consistency right now and whether it’s the offense not holding up its end, the pitching letting the team down or both, it’s just not working for Tampa Bay right now, and I’m not laying juice with the Rays just because they’re due. I’ll roll with the better team playing better baseball right now, and that’s Kansas City.