In the first of a four-game series between the Kansas City Royals (46-33) and the Tampa Bay Rays (46-33) at Kauffman Stadium, Edinson Volquez (8-4, 3.48 ERA) and Alex Colome (3-4, 4.70 ERA) take the mound. The game starts at 8:10 p.m. ET on Monday, Jul. 6 and will air on SunSports and FSN-KC.
In his most recent outing, Volquez pitched 5.0 innings, giving up five runs, striking out eight and walking one in a 6-5 loss to the Astros. The Rays were unsuccessful to the Indians 8-1 the last time Colome pitched. He went 7.0 innings, allowing five runs, striking out three and walking one. Logan Forsythe (.281, 32 Rs, 8 HRs, 34 RBIs, 7 SBs) went 1 for 5 yesterday with one run and two RBIs.
Kansas City is a -140 favorite in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is seven runs. The Royals are 25-17 as the favorite and have an overall money line of +1,001. Kansas City’s pitching staff can be considered one of the best in the AL. The Royals have a team ERA of 3.53, one of the lowest in their league. The Royals don’t give up many hits to opposing batters, ranking third in the AL with only 8.0 hits allowed per game.
Moving on to the away team, the Rays come into this game with a win percentage of .488 when playing as the underdog (21-22) and an overall money line of -8. Over the past 10 matchups, they are 1-9 SU and have a poor 0-5 record when they were an underdog to win. During the last 10 games, they averaged 2.5 runs per game, below their 3.6 season average. Tampa Bay is a terror on the base paths, ranking fifth in the MLB with 60 stolen bases. Switching gears to Tampa Bay’s pitching staff, they have the lowest ERA in the AL at 3.43. They have a WHIP of 1.20 on the year, good for fifth in the league.
The Royals will take on a right-hander (Colome) in this game and have a 32-20 record against right-handed starting pitchers this season. The right-handed Volquez will take the mound against the Rays, who have a 27-33 record against righty starters this season.
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.
The Rays managed to give up five walks in their last game. They’ll have to pick it up against the Royals who are heading in with a 3-2 record against opponents who give up that many walks or more.
When they outhit their opponents, the Rays are 30-11. The Royals have a 39-5 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 25th, Tampa Bay sits near the bottom of the league in runs, scoring 306 this season. Kansas City ranks in the bottom half at 17th with 331.
Ranking 30th, Kansas City is at the bottom of the league in walks, notching 172 this season. Tampa Bay ranks in the bottom half at 18th with 225.
The Royals are 30-14 when they hit at least one home run. The Rays perform similarly when they hit one or more homers with a 30-19 record.
