Royals-Rays Odds Preview

The Kansas City Royals and the Tampa Bay Rays will both be trying to pick up a win on Monday when they battle at Tropicana Field. The Royals will pin their hopes on the pitching of ace righthander Zach Greinke in this game. Greinke has a 10-6 record and a 2.08 ERA this season. It'll be Scott Kazmir toeing the rubber for the Rays in this contest. Lefthander Kazmir is 5-6 with a 6.22 ERA so far this season. Oddsmakers currently have the Rays listed as 145-moneyline favorites versus the Royals, while the game's total has not yet been posted. The Royals defeated Tampa Bay 4-1 as a +230 underdog on Sunday. The five runs scored fell UNDER the posted over/under total (8.5). Mitch Maier was 2-3 with three RBI for Kansas City and Brian Bannister pitched seven shutout innings in the win. Ben Zobrist hit a solo home run for Tampa Bay and James Shields took the loss after allowing one earned run on two hits in 7 1-3 innings. Team records: Kansas City: 41-63 SU Tampa Bay: 57-48 SU Kansas City most recently: When playing on Monday are 6-4 Before playing Seattle are 10-0 After playing Tampa Bay are 3-7 After a win are 4-6 Tampa Bay most recently: When playing on Monday are 5-5 Before playing Boston are 5-5 After playing Kansas City are 6-4 After a loss are 6-4 A few trends to consider: The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Kansas City's last 5 games when playing Tampa Bay The total has gone UNDER in 14 of Kansas City's last 21 games on the road The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Kansas City's last 6 games when playing on the road against Tampa Bay Kansas City is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road Tampa Bay is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing Kansas City Tampa Bay is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Kansas City The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Tampa Bay's last 5 games when playing Kansas City The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Tampa Bay's last 5 games Next up: Kansas City home to Seattle, Tuesday, August 4 Tampa Bay home to Boston, Tuesday, August 4