Rays-Royals Odds Preview

The Kansas City Royals will be fighting to snap a losing streak on Saturday when they take on the Tampa Bay Rays at Kauffman Stadium.

The Rays will give the ball to ace starter Scott Kazmir in this one. Lefthander Kazmir is 4-5 this season with a 7.11 ERA.

Starting this game for the Royals will be Zach Greinke. The righthander has a 2.12 ERA to go along with a 10-5 record this season.

Oddsmakers currently have the Royals listed as 134-moneyline favorites versus the Rays, while the game’s total has not yet been posted.

Evan Longoria belted a two-run homer in the eighth inning as the Rays got past the Royals 8-7 on Friday. The Rays won that game as -145 favorites, while the 15 runs sailed OVER the posted over/under (8.5).

Pat Burrell went deep for a two-run blast, and finished with three RBIs for the Rays. Joe Nelson earned the win in relief, and J.P. Howell closed out the ninth for his seventh save.

Mike Jacobs cracked a three-run homer, and Mark Teahen also had three RBIs for the Royals, who were +125 underdogs. Juan Cruz gave up two runs in relief and was saddled with his third loss.

Current streak:
Kansas City has lost 4 straight games.

Team records:
Tampa Bay: 49-41 SU
Kansas City: 37-52 SU

Tampa Bay most recently:
When playing on Saturday are 4-6
Before playing Kansas City are 7-3
After playing Kansas City are 6-4
After a win are 8-2

Kansas City most recently:
When playing on Saturday are 7-3
Before playing Tampa Bay are 1-9
After playing Tampa Bay are 3-7
After a loss are 3-7

A few trends to consider:
Tampa Bay is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Kansas City
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Tampa Bay’s last 5 games when playing on the road against Kansas City
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Tampa Bay’s last 12 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Tampa Bay’s last 8 games when playing Kansas City
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Kansas City’s last 5 games when playing at home against Tampa Bay
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Kansas City’s last 8 games when playing Tampa Bay
The total has gone UNDER in 12 of Kansas City’s last 18 games
Kansas City is 3-10 SU in its last 13 games at home

Next up:
Kansas City home to Tampa Bay, Sunday, July 19