Thirteen games pepper the Major League Baseball slate on Monday. This betting guide will deliver some of the better value picks from a pair of American League games. The Kansas City Royals continue their long road trip against the Cleveland Guardians, while the Tampa Bay Rays hit the road to take on the Texas Rangers.
Tampa Bay Rays (-140) vs Texas Rangers (+115)
With Drew Rasmussen on the mound, Tampa Bay has been all but unstoppable. They’ve won eight of his nine starts this season and allowed more than three runs in just one of those games. Texas is on a bit of a surge, but the Rays have gone 10-4 in the last 14 games in Texas. This is a good spot to back the Rays (-140) with Rasmussen on the hill.
Both of these teams generally play under, but both have been scoring a good amount of runs lately. Texas has four or more runs in its last five contests, and Tampa Bay has scored at least four in seven of its last 10. This is the first meeting between the teams this season, and that usually means a lower-scoring affair. Add in Rasmussen, and the under (U8, -105) looks to have some decent value.
Kansas City Royals (+140) vs Cleveland Guardians (-165)
The Royals are heading into the seventh game of a 10-game road trip, and it hasn’t been a success. Kansas City has lost eight of its last 10 games, but the good news for the Royals is Cleveland has lost eight of its last 11. It’s probably better to stay away from the money line on this one, but the best play has to be on the home team here. Cleveland (-165) has won 16 of the last 22 meetings.
The best play in this contest is the over. The over has landed in nine of Kansas City’s last 10 games and in each of Cleveland starter Zach Plesac’s last six starts. Expect a lot of runs to come again, as the last two games between these teams featured a total of 40 runs. The number on the over is climbing, but there is still plenty of value in betting the over in this one (O9.5, -120).
Odds via BetMGM and FanDuel Sportsbook
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