Rays-Royals Preview

The Kansas City Royals will be fighting to snap a losing streak on Thursday when they take on the Tampa Bay Rays at Kauffman Stadium. Righthander Matt Garza will take the mound for the Rays to start this game. Garza is 8-5 this season with a 3.68 ERA. Garza's opponent in this one will be Gil Meche. The Royals ace righthander has a 4.48 ERA to go along with a 7-9 record this season. NewBodog oddsmakers currently have the Rays listed as 130-moneyline favorites versus the Royals, while the game's total has not yet been posted. Ben Zobrist drove in the winning run on Wednesday, as the Rays got past the A's 4-3 in the rubber match. The Rays won the game as -210 favorites, and the combined seven runs went UNDER the day's posted over/under (7.5). Zobrist belted a solo home run and finihsed 2-for-4 at the plate. James Shields went 8 1-3 innings on the mound in the win, and Troy Percival gave up the 20th save. The Royals were swept on Wednesday, as they dropped the finale 7-1 to the Tigers. The Royals were a -110 moneyline favorite in that game, while the eight runs fell UNDER the posted over/under (9). Jose Guillen drove in the lone run for the Royals. Zack Greinke gave up five earned runs over six innings, while fanning eight batters in a losing effort. Current streak: Kansas City has lost 3 straight games. Team records: Tampa Bay: 59-41 SU Kansas City: 45-57 SU Tampa Bay most recently: When playing on Thursday are 8-2 Before playing Kansas City are 6-4 After playing Oakland are 6-4 After a win are 7-3 Kansas City most recently: When playing on Thursday are 3-7 Before playing Tampa Bay are 4-6 After playing Detroit are 5-5 After a loss are 4-6 A few trends to consider: The total has gone OVER in 6 of Tampa Bay's last 7 games when playing Kansas City The total has gone OVER in 4 of Tampa Bay's last 5 games when playing on the road against Kansas City The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Tampa Bay's last 8 games on the road Tampa Bay is 15-6 SU in its last 21 games when playing Kansas City The total has gone OVER in 6 of Kansas City's last 7 games when playing Tampa Bay The total has gone OVER in 4 of Kansas City's last 5 games when playing at home against Tampa Bay The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Kansas City's last 7 games at home The total has gone OVER in 4 of Kansas City's last 6 games Next up: Kansas City home to Tampa Bay, Friday, July 25