Tampa Bay Rays (58-35) at Kansas City Royals (26-65)
Game Info: Friday, July 14th, 2023 at 8:10 p.m. EST ( Kauffman Stadium)
Betting Odds: Rays ML (-300) - Over/Under (9)
Pick: Rays -2.5 (-115)
Friday takes us to Kauffman Stadium for the opening game of this three-game weekend series between the Kansas City Royals and Tampa Bay Rays. It is the first game of the “second half” of the 2023 Major League Baseball season, as teams are returning from the All-Star break. Teams are preparing for the back half of the year and the stretch run ahead of the postseason and each game is going to mean more than the last.
The Tampa Bay Rays come into the opening game of the second half of the season with the best record in all of Major League Baseball. They will open up the second half of their season against one of the worst teams in baseball this season as they head on the road to Kauffman Stadium to play the Kansas City Royals. The 2023 All-Star break was a much-needed period of rest for Tampa Bay as they were struggling heading into the midway point of the season. They have lost seven out of their last 10 games on the season and they will be hoping that three days of rest will allow them to bounce back and get off to a hot start this weekend.
Tyler Glasnow is set to take the mound for the Tampa Bay Rays in the opening game of the series on Friday night. He comes into this game with a losing record, and only a couple of victories on the season but he has a perfect opportunity to turn things around against a lackluster Kansas City lineup. He will be looking to lower his Earned Run Average currently said slightly above four, at 4.10 coming into Friday night's start. Despite the losing record, he has been racking up strikeouts as he averages around eight punch-outs per appearance this season. He will likely equal or surpass that Number going against a Kansas City offense that is one of the worst in the league.
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The Kansas City Royals are still caught in the middle of a rebuild and it shows with the way they have performed this season. They are among the worst teams in all of Major League Baseball and they are well on their way to losing over 100 games on the year. They are in last place in the worst division in all of baseball as they find themselves nineteen and a half games out of first place behind the Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central division. They finished the first half of the season off with a victory but they have lost seven out of their last ten games on the year.
Taking the mound for the Kansas City Royals will be Alec Marsh. He is a rookie and his Major League Baseball career is off to a somewhat decent start. He will have his hands full against a loaded lineup like the Tampa Bay Rays in this game. He has made two appearances in his career and his Earned Run Average is certainly a bit of a concern already as it sits as high as seven at the moment. He is averaging around four and a half innings pitched per appearance and five strikeouts as well. It likely won’t get much better for him in this start either as Tampa Bay is having their way with everyone they face this season.
Betting trends to consider in this matchup:
- Tampa Bay is 19-12 as a road favorite
- Kansas City is 10-20 as a home underdog
- Kansas City is 6-19 coming off a victory
Tampa Bay should have no problem grabbing a comfortable win over Kansas City in this game. This will be the second three game series of the season between these two teams and Tampa Bay has outscored Kansas City 26-19 in four previous games. I expect the Rays to get a multi-run victory here on Friday night and grab a victory to open up the series to take a 3-2 season series lead.
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