Marking the start of a nine-game road swing – their last until after the All-Star break – the Texas Rangers kick off a series with the Kansas City Royals on Monday night. These clubs crossed paths once this season already, that bill coming in Arlington and the Rangers taking two of three.
After they didn’t play in 2020 – which was the first time they hadn’t faced off in a regular season since 1969 – Texas took the season series a year ago. The Rangers, in fact, have won each season series over the Royals since 2015.
The Rangers (34-37) haven’t been able to climb above .500 yet this schedule, coming closest when they were 24-24 before a home loss in extras to Tampa Bay on June 1. They’re 5-5 in their last 10 matchups, a stretch that saw them split a four-game set at Detroit and sweep Philadelphia in a two-game slate.
Their most recent MLB matchups, against Washington, the laughingstock of the National League, didn’t do them many favors. They emerged victorious in the middle tilt of that series, but that was bookended by a pair of losses.
Texas is second in the MLB standings in the American League West, but not by a small margin. Houston, who has the second-most wins in the AL to this point, leads them by 10.5 games at the grouping’s perch.
Kansas City (26-45) hasn’t been much better on a day-to-day basis. The last time they boasted more wins than losses was during their first series of the season. The Royals haven’t strung together more than three wins in a row this go-round and have dropped three of their last four.
Those MLB stats look even worse considering they enter having lost two in a row – to the lowly Oakland Athletics. Kansas City idles in dead last in the AL Central, trailing division-leading Minnesota by 13.5 games. Their 13 wins at home are the second-fewest in the AL.
Heading into this contest, the Royals have a team batting average that ranks in the bottom third of the MLB. Hitting .238 collectively, they have only plated more total runs than Pittsburgh, Oakland, and Detroit – which isn’t really the company a group would like to keep. It’s not even like Kansas City has a particularly powerful order, either, as they rank fourth-to-last in home runs.
Two of the Royals’ batters – catcher Salvador Perez and shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. – have each belted 11 baseballs over the outfield fences. That tandem also paces the crew with 34 and 37 RBIs, respectively. Left fielder Andrew Benintendi has a team-high .295 average at the dish.
Rangers vs. Royals Odds
MLB odds have their eyes on the guests in this battle. Texas is -1.5 on the run line at +114, while the Royals are -137 to cover the spread.
On the moneyline, the Rangers are -138 and Kansas City a +118 underdog. The total has been set at 8.5 runs, with the over being -110 and the under the same at the time of this writing.
As a whole, Texas isn’t an upper-echelon team in terms of hitting, either. The Rangers are .235 in the batter’s box and are led by first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who has a .270 batting average and a .326 on-base percentage. Behind him, only one other regular is swinging better than .245.
Right fielder Adolis Garcia has piled up 47 RBIs, while shortstop and flashy offseason addition Corey Seager has clubbed 15 homers. The latter leads an offense that is tied for eighth in the major leagues in long balls, with a total of 89.
Garcia also has 15 dingers, while Lowe and catcher Jonah Heim both have 10.
Matchup Information
Rangers vs. Royals Betting Preview
The Rangers are slated to send Martin Perez to start on the mound in this one. A 31-year-old left-hander who is in his second stint in Texas after stops in Minnesota and Boston, he has a 5-2 record thus far and is among the leaders in the bigs with a 1.96 ERA.
Since the beginning of last month, Texas has usually wound up happy after Perez’ day toeing the rubber. The Texas Rangers have come out on top in all but one of his previous ten outings, the only loss coming to Seattle in extras on June 5. In nine instances over that same time frame, he has allowed two runs or less.
Last Tuesday against Philadelphia marked the fifth time this campaign that he’s blanked an opponent, and each of those occasions saw him go at least six frames on the hill.
Perez was able to get a bit of a feel for Kansas City’s order in May, picking up his first win of the season after an 0-2 start. Over his last five matchups with the Royals – dating back to September 2019 – Perez has gone 24.2 innings and posted a 4.38 ERA.
For the Royals, southpaw Kris Bubic will aim to better his numbers. He has a 1-4 record and a less-than-ideal 7.41 ERA. In his third year at the top level, Bubic has helped Kansas City to victories four of the last five times he’s trotted out.
On the road against the Los Angeles Angels last Monday, he turned in six innings of work – his most in a start to this point in 2022 – allowing six hits and two earned runs. He also fanned a season-best seven challengers and the Kansas City Royals ended up on the right side of a 6-2 final.
Home hasn’t really been wherer the heart is for Bubic, though, as three of his four defeats this year have come at Kauffan Stadium. He’s conceded 17 runs in 19.2 innings pitched in that ballpark.
This will be Bubic’s first time going up against the Rangers as a starting hurler.
Texas Rangers vs. Kansas City Royals Picks and Predictions
Neither team enters this one on much of a tear, and Perez and the Rangers showed they could outduel Kansas City earlier in the schedule. If the Royals were even just a little bit better at home, it would be easier to see them keep up this time around. They just lost to Oakland, though, which shows where they’re at.
Go on and take Texas to cover the spread when making your MLB picks today.
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