Rays head into matchup against the Royals on losing streak

Kansas City Royals (34-19, second in the AL Central) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (25-28, fourth in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Sunday, 1:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Michael Wacha (4-4, 4.45 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 47 strikeouts); Rays: Taj Bradley (1-2, 4.00 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 23 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Rays -122, Royals +102; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays take on the Kansas City Royals as losers of six straight games.

Tampa Bay has a 25-28 record overall and a 14-17 record in home games. The Rays have a 14-26 record in games when they have given up a home run.

Kansas City is 34-19 overall and 13-11 on the road. Royals hitters are batting a collective .253, which ranks third in the AL.

Sunday's game is the third time these teams match up this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Caballero has eight doubles, a triple and two home runs for the Rays. Josh Lowe is 8-for-37 with three doubles and two home runs over the last 10 games.

Salvador Perez leads the Royals with nine home runs while slugging .529. Maikel Garcia is 17-for-44 with three doubles, two triples, a home run and nine RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 4-6, .204 batting average, 4.85 ERA, outscored by 19 runs

Royals: 9-1, .300 batting average, 2.57 ERA, outscored opponents by 37 runs

INJURIES: Rays: Josh Lowe: 10-Day IL (side), Zach Eflin: 15-Day IL (back), Jacob Waguespack: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Colin Poche: 15-Day IL (back), Taylor Walls: 60-Day IL (hip), Jeffrey Springs: 60-Day IL (elbow), Drew Rasmussen: 60-Day IL (elbow), Shane McClanahan: 60-Day IL (forearm)

Royals: Kyle Isbel: day-to-day (face), Michael Massey: day-to-day (back), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (biceps), Kris Bubic: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kyle Wright: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.