Chris Archer (9-5, 2.18 ERA) gets the ball for the Tampa Bay Rays (43-43) as they meet Jeremy Guthrie (6-5, 5.42 ERA) and the Kansas City Royals (48-33) in the third of a four-game series at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals won the last game 7-1 and Kansas City leads the series 2-0. The game starts at 8:10 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jul. 8 and will air on SunSports and FSN-KC.
Guthrie is 9-11 with a 3.97 ERA against the Rays in his career, and is up against a struggling Tampa Bay offense that’s hitting just .240 on the year. Kendrys Morales (.282, 39 Rs, 10 HRs, 54 RBIs) went 1 for 4 yesterday. In his pitching opportunities against the Royals, Archer is 0-1 with a 2.84 ERA. He gets a solid Kansas City offense that’s batting .270. Logan Forsythe (.281, 33 Rs, 8 HRs, 34 RBIs, 7 SBs) went 1 for 4 yesterday.
Kansas City is a +118 underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at seven runs. The Royals are 20-16 as the underdog and have an overall money line of +1,201. The Royals rank fourth in the AL in ERA with a 3.52 team average. The Royals are third in the AL in hits allowed with just 7.9 per game.
Switching to the opposing bench, the Rays come into this game with a win percentage of .525 when playing as the favorite (21-19) and an overall money line of +eight. Tampa Bay is a terror on the base paths, ranking fifth in the MLB with 61 stolen bases. The Rays are a problem for opposing batters, sporting an AL-low 3.40 ERA this season.
So far this season, the Royals are 2-0 against the Rays. The Royals will take on a right-hander (Archer) in this game and have a 33-20 record against right-handed starting pitchers this season. Taking the hill against the Rays will be the right-hander Guthrie. They sport a 28-34 record against righties.
Predictions: SU Winner – KC, O/U – Over
Notes
When the Royals play into extra innings, they have a 4-1 record. The Rays are 2-6 when their games exceed nine innings.
Having scored one run in their last game, the Rays are going to have to up their game if they want to win this matchup. The Royals have a 15-0 record in games where opponents scored that many runs or fewer.
When they are outhit, the Royals are 4-27. The Rays have a 7-28 record when opponents outhit them.
Kansas City ranks near the bottom of the league at 27th when it comes to home runs, hitting 60 this season. Tampa Bay ranks in the bottom half at 16th with 75.
Ranking 14th, Tampa Bay is in the top half of the league in hits, notching 8.02 per game. Kansas City ranks in the top five at second with 9.10.
Ranking 24th, Tampa Bay is near the bottom of the league for its on-base plus slugging percentage (.683). Kansas City ranks in the top 10 at 10th with an OPS of .723.
The Rays are 18-31 in games where they allow one or more home runs. The Royals are 21-24 when they allow at least one homer.
