Royals-Rays Odds Preview

The Kansas City Royals and the Tampa Bay Rays will both be gunning for a victory on Saturday when they meet at Tropicana Field. The Royals will pin their hopes on the pitching of lefthander Bruce Chen in this game. Chen has a 0-4 record and a 6.84 ERA this season. The Rays will counter Chen with Jeff Niemann. Righthander Niemann has a 3.66 ERA to go along with a 9-5 record this season. Oddsmakers currently have the Rays listed as 270-moneyline favorites versus the Royals, while the game's total has not yet been posted. Carlos Pena belted a three-run homer as the Rays pounded the Royals 8-2 on Friday, as -250 favorites. That game's 10 runs went as a PUSH against the posted over/under (10). Dioner Navarro also homered in the win for Tampa Bay. David Price improved to 4-4 with the win, allowing just five hits and one run over seven innings. Alex Gordon and Brayan Pena drove in one run each for the Royals, who were +220 underdogs. Sidney Ponson gave up eight hits and seven runs over 4 1-3 innings in the loss. Current streak: Kansas City has lost 3 straight games. Team records: Kansas City: 40-62 SU Tampa Bay: 56-47 SU Kansas City most recently: When playing on Saturday are 3-7 Before playing Tampa Bay are 1-9 After playing Tampa Bay are 2-8 After a loss are 2-8 Tampa Bay most recently: When playing on Saturday are 6-4 Before playing Kansas City are 6-4 After playing Kansas City are 7-3 After a win are 5-5 A few trends to consider: The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Kansas City's last 11 games when playing Tampa Bay Kansas City is 2-6 SU in its last 8 games on the road Kansas City is 3-14 SU in its last 17 games Kansas City is 1-9 SU in its last 10 games when playing on the road against Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Kansas City Tampa Bay is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games when playing at home against Kansas City The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Tampa Bay's last 13 games Tampa Bay is 16-5 SU in its last 21 games at home Next up: Tampa Bay home to Kansas City, Sunday, August 2