Tampa Bay Rays @ Kansas City Royals - June 26, 2025

As a retired coach with years of experience on the field, I find myself analyzing matchups like this one between the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals through a lens of strategy and team dynamics. The clash at Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium promises to be intriguing, especially with both teams looking to shake off recent performances.

The Rays, holding a record of 45-35, are currently riding some momentum as they’ve won four out of their last five games. They’ve displayed resilience on the road as evidenced by their perfect record against the spread in their last five away games. When you factor in that they just blanked the Royals 3-0 in their last encounter, confidence is on their side.

Starting for Tampa Bay is Shane Baz, who brings an impressive 7-3 record and decent strikeout rate into this matchup. His ERA sits slightly above four—at 3.586—which indicates he can give up runs but often finds ways to escape jams when it counts most. His ability to keep hitters guessing will be key against a struggling Royals lineup that has scored just over three runs per game and hasn’t shown much power recently.

Now let’s take a look at Kansas City. With a season record of 38-42 and having lost four straight games leading into this contest, there’s definitely pressure mounting within the clubhouse. The Royals’ recent performance shows inconsistency both offensively and defensively; their batting average hovers around .242 which indicates struggles at the plate — not what you want facing a pitcher who knows how to work through tight spots.

Michael Lorenzen takes the mound for Kansas City sporting a win-loss record of 4-7 alongside an ERA nearing four as well—sitting at 3.477 now after rounding down based on his steady performance lately (including eight strikeouts per game). However, with his team averaging under four runs scored per game lately, it’s clear they need him to step up significantly if they’re going to turn things around against an offense like Tampa Bay’s which averages close to five runs per game.

When assessing total runs for tonight’s game—given each team’s history recently—I lean towards expecting more than ten runs combined despite these pitchers’ solid numbers because both lineups have potential explosiveness when given opportunities plus hitting conditions should play favorably tonight.

In conclusion: my gut tells me that we’ll see the Rays come out on top once again against Kansas City today—their offensive consistency paired with Baz’s knack for pitching under pressure gives them an edge here. As far as Over/Under goes? I’d wager you’ll see fireworks beyond ten total runs tonight! It might be one for fans and bettors alike!