Kansas City Royals vs. Tampa Bay Rays odds, tips and betting trends | July 3

On Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Rays (43-42) are visiting the Kansas City Royals (47-40), at 8:10 PM ET, in the second Game of a three-Game set.

Oddsmakers project the Royals as a tight favorite (-110 moneyline odds) against the Rays (-109). The Kansas City Royals will give the start to Michael Wacha (4-6, 3.91 ERA), who is looking for win No. 5 on the season, and the Rays will counter with Ryan Pepiot (4-4, 4.40 ERA).

Here is everything you need to get ready for Wednesday’s Royals vs. Rays matchup, including viewing options.

Kansas City Royals vs. Tampa Bay Rays odds and betting lines

MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Wednesday at 3:18 PM ET. For a full list of Sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub.

• Favorite: Royals (-110, bet $110 to win $100)
• Underdog: Rays (-109, bet $109 to win $100)
• Over/under: 8

Royals vs. Rays: Live streaming info & game time

• Game Day: Wednesday, July 3, 2024
• Game Time: 8:10 PM ET
• Stadium: Kauffman Stadium
• TV Channel: Bally Sports
• Live Stream: Fubo (Watch for free)

Royals stats and trends

Royals betting records

• The Royals have won 22, or 68.8%, of the 32 games they’ve played as favorites this season.
• Kansas City has a record of 24-12 in games when oddsmakers favor them by at least -110 on the moneyline.
• The moneyline for this contest implies a 52.4% chance of a victory for the Royals.
• Games involving Kansas City have gone over the total set by oddsmakers in 36 of 87 chances this season.
• The Royals are 48-39-0 against the spread this season.

Michael Wacha (Royals probable starter)

• Wacha makes the start for the Royals, his 15th of the season. He is 4-6 with a 3.91 ERA and 67 strikeouts through 78 1/3 innings pitched.
• His most recent appearance was on Friday against the Cleveland Guardians, when the right-hander tossed 5 1/3 innings, surrendering one earned run while giving up seven hits.
• In 14 games this season, the 33-year-old has a 3.91 ERA and 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings, while giving up a batting average of .253 to his opponents.
• Wacha has six quality starts under his belt this year.
• Wacha will try to prolong an eight-game streak of going five or more innings (he’s averaging 5.6 frames per outing).
• He has made one appearance this season in which he did not give up an earned run.
• The opposing Rays offense has a collective .236 batting average, and is 20th in the league with 670 total hits and 24th in MLB action with 342 runs scored. It has the 23rd-ranked slugging percentage (.370) and ranks 27th in home runs (77) in all of MLB.
• Wacha has a 3 ERA and a 0.667 WHIP against the Rays this season in six innings pitched, allowing a .143 batting average over one appearance.

Royals batting stats

• The Royals rank 16th in Major League Baseball with 87 home runs.
• Fueled by 257 extra-base hits, Kansas City ranks 11th in MLB with a .402 slugging percentage this season.
• The Royals’ .244 batting average ranks 13th in the league this season.
• Kansas City has scored 393 runs (4.5 per game) this season, which ranks 12th in MLB.
• The Royals have the 19th-ranked on-base percentage in MLB this season (.306).
• Kansas City is one of the most-disciplined teams at the plate this season, ranking third with an average of 7.0 strikeouts per game.

Rays stats and trends

Rays betting records

• The Rays have come away with 16 wins in the 35 contests they have been listed as the underdogs in this season.
• This year, Tampa Bay has won 16 of 35 games when listed as at least -109 or worse on the moneyline.
• Bookmakers have implied with the moneyline set for this matchup that the Rays have a 52.2% chance of pulling out a win.
• Tampa Bay and its opponents have gone over in 42 of its 85 games with a total set by sportsbooks this season.
• The Rays are 43-41-0 against the spread in their 84 games with a line set by sportsbooks this season.

Ryan Pepiot (Rays probable starter)

• Pepiot (4-4) takes the mound first for the Rays in his 15th start of the season. He’s put together a 4.40 ERA in 71 2/3 innings pitched, with 83 strikeouts.
• In his most recent appearance on Wednesday, June 26 against the Seattle Mariners, the righty went 5 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run while surrendering one hit.
• In 14 games this season, the 26-year-old has put up an ERA of 4.40, with 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings. Opponents are hitting .205 against him.
• Pepiot is looking to secure his sixth quality start of the season.
• Pepiot is trying to record his 11th start of five or more innings this year in this game.
• He has had two appearances this season that he kept his opponents to zero earned runs.
• He will take the hill against a Royals offense that is batting .244 as a unit (13th in the MLB). They are also slugging a collective .402 (11th in the league) with 87 total home runs (16th in MLB play).

Rays batting stats

• The Rays have hit 77 home runs this season, the fourth-lowest total in MLB action.
• So far this year, Tampa Bay is 23rd in the majors, slugging .370.
• The Rays are 20th in the majors with a .236 batting average.
• The offense for Tampa Bay is the No. 24 offense in baseball, scoring 4.0 runs per game (342 total runs).
• The Rays’ .310 on-base percentage ranks 15th in the majors.