Tampa Bay Rays vs Kansas City Royals Prediction, 7/1/2026 MLB Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Tampa Bay Rays vs Kansas City Royals

Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Location: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO

TV: MLB.TV

Odds/Point Spread: Tampa Bay (-128) Kansas City (+106)

The Kansas City Royals (35-50) are welcoming the Tampa Bay Rays (48-33) at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday. The odds on this game have Tampa Bay at -128 while Kansas City is sitting at +106. The over/under is 8. The pitchers taking the mound are Shane McClanahan and Seth Lugo.

Tampa Bay is slugging .394 and have been rung up 580 times, while drawing a walk on 291 occasions. They have accounted for 350 runs batted in as well as 700 base knocks so far this year, and their batting average is .259. The Rays have accrued 118 doubles as a unit and have hit 74 balls out of the stadium. They have accounted for 366 runs while holding a team OBP of .336. As a unit, the Tampa Bay Rays are knocking in 4.5 runs per game, which has them at 13th in baseball.

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The Rays have an earned run average of 3.78 this year (9th in the league), and their staff has rung up 642 hitters. Rays pitchers have allowed 97 home runs and 342 runs in total (8th in MLB). Their pitching staff has walked 228 players from the other team and their FIP comes in at 4.13 as a team on the year. Tampa Bay has surrendered 641 base hits (8.0 per 9 innings) as well as 304 earned runs. They have earned a K/BB ratio of 2.82 and the pitching staff holds a collective WHIP of 1.20.

The Rays relief pitchers have a save percentage of 72.7% and have come into the game in 105 save situations. They have earned 32 saves so far this year and have blown 12 of 44 save opportunities. The relievers have inherited 94 runners this season and 24.5% of those players ended up scoring. Rays bullpen pitchers have come into the game with players on base 67 times in addition to having 83 appearances in high leverage situations. The Rays have sent 257 relief pitchers to the mound on the season. The relief pitchers are sitting with 61 holds so far this season (2nd in MLB).

The Rays have turned 71.6% of balls hit into play into outs out of 6,516 innings, which ranks them 4th in the majors. The Tampa Bay Rays have notched a total of 2,172 putouts on the year, in addition to 654 assists and 47 errors. Their fielding rate is holding at .984 which ranks 22nd in pro baseball, and have 50 double plays.

McClanahan has taken the ball for 477 frames and is sitting with 529 strikeouts so far in his pro baseball career. McClanahan (39-21 mark in his career) has earned a FIP of 3.03 and he has faced 1,939 opposing hitters in the majors. His ERA is 3.07 (163 ER's allowed) and he has a career WHIP of 1.125. He has allowed 393 hits (7.4 hits per nine innings) and has had 144 walks.

Kansas City has hit 82 home runs so far this season to go along with 339 runs batted in. They have 150 doubles, while taking a walk 282 times and scoring 357 runs. The Kansas City Royals have tallied an OBP of .316 and a team batting average of .245 this season. The Royals hold a team slugging % of .391 and they tally 4.20 runs per contest (21st in MLB). They have been rung up on 677 occasions (21st in the league) and have notched a total of 697 hits.

The Royals are sitting with a team WHIP of 1.427 and are the owners of a FIP of 4.62 as a staff for the year. They currently have a K/BB ratio of 7.90 (656 strikeouts against 322 walks). They rank 25th in the league as a staff in total hits given up with 747. They have given up 108 home runs and they allow 5.13 runs per 9 innings (26th in the league). The Kansas City pitching staff have surrendered 427 runs for the year while having an ERA of 4.83 (402 earned runs yielded).

Kansas City relief pitchers hold an inherited score percentage of 34.6% out of their 81 inherited runners. Their relief pitchers have stepped onto the hill 89 times in high leverage situations and on 58 occasions with runners on. With 73 save situations, the Royals have 35 holds and 16 blown saves. They are ranked 21st in the league holding a save percentage of 57.9%, and they have dispatched 273 relief pitchers to the hill so far this season.

In their 6,747 innings on the diamond, the Royals are sitting with a defensive efficiency of 69.1% (25th in pro baseball). The Kansas City Royals have turned 74 double plays and have a fielding percentage of .988 (8th in pro baseball). The Royals have accrued 742 assists, 37 errors and have earned 2,249 putouts for the season.

So far in his career, Lugo has conceded 983 base hits while tallying 1,023 strikeouts in 1,083 frames. Lugo (67-52 record in his career) has a 3.55 earned run average and has allowed 8.2 hits per 9 innings. He has given up a total of 427 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.190 and a FIP of 3.5. He has a K/BB ratio of 3.34 and he has faced 4,479 batters during his pro baseball career.

Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread or moneyline?

Josh Schonwald's Pick: Take Tampa Bay (-128)

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