Rangers-Royals Lines Preview

The Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Royals will both be gunning for a victory on Sunday when they meet at Kauffman Stadium. The Rangers will pin their hopes on the pitching of righthander Kevin Millwood in this game. Millwood has a 9-7 record and a 3.44 ERA this season. Millwood's opponent in this one will be Sidney Ponson. The Royals righthander has a 7.00 ERA to go along with a 1-6 record this season. Oddsmakers currently have the Rangers listed as 160-moneyline favorites versus the Royals, while the game's total has not yet been posted. The Royals evened their three-game series with a 6-3 win over the Rangers on Saturday, as -115 favorites. That game's nine runs went as a PUSH against the posted over/under (9). Billy Butler cracked a two-run homer to help lead the Royals. Luke Hochevar had 13 strikeouts over seven innings for his sixth win of the season. Michael Young went 3-for-4 at the plate with a solo home run for the Rangers, who were +105 underdogs. Derek Holland allowed seven hits and four runs over 4 2-3 innings on the hill. Team records: Texas: 53-42 SU Kansas City: 38-58 SU Texas most recently: When playing on Sunday are 6-4 Before playing Detroit are 4-6 After playing Kansas City are 5-5 After a loss are 5-5 Kansas City most recently: When playing on Sunday are 3-7 Before playing Baltimore are 2-8 After playing Texas are 3-7 After a win are 5-5 A few trends to consider: The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Texas's last 10 games Texas is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games Texas is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Kansas City The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Texas's last 7 games on the road Kansas City is 4-9 SU in its last 13 games when playing Texas Kansas City is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Texas Kansas City is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games at home Kansas City is 1-10 SU in its last 11 games Next up: Texas home to Detroit, Monday, July 27 Kansas City at Baltimore, Monday, July 27