Rays start 4-game series at home against the Royals

Kansas City Royals (20-54, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (52-25, first in the AL East)

St. Petersburg, Florida; Thursday, 6:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Jose Cuas (3-0, 4.15 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 39 strikeouts); Rays: Shane McClanahan (11-1, 2.12 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 97 strikeouts)

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Rays -374, Royals +295; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Rays host the Kansas City Royals on Thursday to open a four-game series.

Tampa Bay is 32-8 at home and 52-25 overall. The Rays have the second-ranked team ERA in the AL at 3.54.

Kansas City is 20-54 overall and 10-26 in road games. The Royals have a 5-10 record in games when they hit at least two home runs.

The teams meet Thursday for the first time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Wander Franco has eight home runs, 27 walks and 35 RBI while hitting .287 for the Rays. Luke Raley is 13-for-36 with three doubles, two triples, two home runs and five RBI over the last 10 games.

Bobby Witt Jr. has 11 doubles, four triples and 12 home runs for the Royals. Maikel Garcia is 14-for-40 with a double, a triple, a home run and three RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 5-5, .269 batting average, 3.24 ERA, outscored opponents by 10 runs

Royals: 2-8, .253 batting average, 5.63 ERA, outscored by 24 runs

INJURIES: Rays: Josh Fleming: 60-Day IL (elbow), Calvin Faucher: 15-Day IL (elbow), Brandon Lowe: 10-Day IL (leg), Drew Rasmussen: 60-Day IL (flexor), Garrett Cleavinger: 60-Day IL (knee), Jeffrey Springs: 60-Day IL (elbow), Shane Baz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Andrew Kittredge: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Royals: Matt Beaty: day-to-day (whiplash), Michael Massey: 10-Day IL (hand), Vinnie Pasquantino: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Josh Staumont: 15-Day IL (neck), Amir Garrett: 15-Day IL (elbow), Josh Taylor: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Brad Keller: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Ryan Yarbrough: 60-Day IL (head), Kyle Isbel: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Kris Bubic: 60-Day IL (flexor), Diego Hernandez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jake Brentz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Angel Zerpa: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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