Kansas City Royals at Tampa Bay Rays odds, picks and predictions

Analyzing Thursday’s Kansas City Royals at Tampa Bay Rays odds and lines, with MLB expert picks, predictions and best bets.

The Kansas City Royals (20-54) and Tampa Bay Rays (52-25) meet Thursday to kick off a 4-game series. First pitch from Tropicana Field is set for 6:40 p.m. ET (MLB Network). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Royals at Rays odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.

Season series: First meeting; Tampa Bay won 4-3 last season

The Royals lost 9-4 as +122 road underdogs Wednesday vs. the Detroit Tigers. Kansas City took a 2-0 lead in the top of the 2nd, but Detroit scored 3 in the bottom of the inning, added runs in the 3rd and 5th and put the game away with 4 runs in the 8th.

Tampa Bay won 7-2 as -141 home favorites Wednesday vs. the Baltimore Orioles to snap a 3-game losing streak. The Rays scored 4 runs in the 2nd inning and never looked back as SP Taj Bradley allowed just 1 run in 6 innings and struck out 8.

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Royals at Rays projected starters

RHP Jose Cuas vs. LHP Shane McClanahan

Cuas (3-0, 4.15 ERA) makes his 1st start after 32 relief appearances. He has a 1.45 WHIP, 3.6 BB/9 and 11.6 K/9 in 30 1/3 innings.

  • Last outing: No-decision, 1 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K in a 6-4 road loss Monday vs. Detroit Tigers
  • Career vs. Tampa Bay: 0-1, 6.75 ERA (1 1/3 IP, 1 ER), 2 H, 6.8 K/9, 2.25 WHIP in 2 appearances

McClanahan (11-1, 2.12 ERA) makes his 16th start. He has a 1.10 WHIP, 3.3 BB/9 and 9.8 K/9 in 89.1 innings.

  • Last outing: Win, 6 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 5 K in a 6-2 road win Friday vs. San Diego Padres
  • Career vs. Kansas City: 1-0, 1.50 ERA (12 IP, 2 ER), 5 H, 14 K, 0.67 WHIP in 2 starts

Royals at Rays odds

Provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 1:05 a.m. ET.

  • Moneyline (ML): Royals +300 (bet $100 to win $300) | Rays -400 (bet $400 to win $100)
  • Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Royals +1.5 (+140) | Rays -1.5 (-165)
  • Over/Under (O/U): 7.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)

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Royals at Rays picks and predictions

Prediction

Rays 2, Royals 1

Moneyline

PASS.

Tampa Bay should win this game as it has the best record in MLB and is facing off a team with the 2nd-worst record in the league. But the line is not worth the juice so bet on the run line and/or O/U instead.

Run line/Against the spread

LEAN ROYALS +1.5 (+140).

Tampa Bay -1.5 (-160) is clearly the better team, but they have struggled somewhat in recent matchups vs. Kansas City. The Rays are only 6-4 in the last 10 matchups overall and 4 of the last 10 meetings have finished with a 1-run margin.

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Over/Under

LEAN UNDER 7.5 (-110).

The O/U is 4-5-1 in the last 10 games for Tampa Bay and 4-6 in Kansas City’s last 10. However, in recent matchups the Under has hit more often than not, being 5-1 in the last 6 meetings overall and 5-2 in the last 7 meetings in Tampa Bay.

For Kansas City, the Under is also 7-1 in their last 8 games vs. a starter with a WHIP less than 1.15 while for Tampa, the Under is 3-0-1 in their last 4 games following a win, per covers.com.

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