{"id":319495,"date":"2026-06-25T15:53:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T15:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/319495\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T15:53:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T15:53:20","slug":"royals-vs-rays-prediction-odds-probable-pitchers-prop-bets-for-thursday-june-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/319495\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals vs. Rays Prediction, Odds, Probable Pitchers, Prop Bets for Thursday, June 25"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals wrap up a four-game set on Thursday afternoon, and Tampa Bay is looking to salvage a split after losing on Monday and Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The Royals are in last place in the AL Central and 10 games under .500 on the road, but oddsmakers only have them as +119 underdogs in this series finale with Seth Lugo (3.69 ERA) on the mound.<\/p>\n

Lugo\u2019s advanced numbers are pretty shaky this season \u2013 he ranks in the 15th percentile in expected ERA \u2013 but the Royals have won seven of his 15 outings.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay is going with a bullpen game on Thursday with Casey Legumina (3.45 ERA) getting the start.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at the betting odds, a player prop to consider and my prediction for this series finale on June 25.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Royals vs. Rays Odds, Run Line and Total<\/p>\n

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook<\/a><\/p>\n

Run Line<\/p>\n

Royals +1.5 (-185)Rays -1.5 (+152)<\/p>\n

Moneyline<\/p>\n

Total<\/p>\n

8.5 (Over -107\/Under -113)Royals vs. Rays Probable PitchersKansas City: Seth Lugo (3-4, 3.69 ERA)Tampa Bay: Casey Legumina (2-1, 3.45 ERA)Royals vs. Rays How to WatchDate: Thursday, June 25Time: 12:10 p.m. ESTVenue: Tropicana FieldHow to Watch (TV): Rays.TV\/Royals.TVRoyals record: 34-47Rays record: 44-33Royals vs. Rays Best MLB Prop BetsRoyals Best MLB Prop BetSeth Lugo UNDER 4.5 Strikeouts (-138)<\/p>\n

This season, the Rays are averaging just 7.31 strikeouts per game, which is good for the second-best mark in MLB.<\/p>\n

So, this is a tough matchup for Lugo, who has not been great when it comes to racking up punchouts in 2026. The Royals right-hander has just 66 K\u2019s in 85.1 innings of work, ranking in the fourth percentile in whiff percentage and the 25th percentile in strikeout percentage.<\/p>\n

Lugo has failed to pick up five or more punchouts in each of his three starts in June, and he didn\u2019t pick up a single K in six innings his last time out. Overall, the veteran has failed to clear this line in eight of his 15 starts. I think he\u2019s an easy fade candidate against this Tampa Bay offense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Royals vs. Rays Prediction and Pick<\/p>\n

I targeted this game in today\u2019s edition of Walk-Off Wagers \u2013 our daily MLB best bets column<\/a> \u2013 as the Rays have been dominant at home in 2026:\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Rays need a win to split their four-game set with the Royals, and they\u2019re rolling with a bullpen game on Thursday afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Tampa Bay\u2019s \u2018pen (4.59 ERA) has struggled a bit in the 2026 season, I still think the Rays are deserving favorites at home against this Royals team with Seth Lugo on the mound.<\/p>\n

Kansas City is 7-8 in Lugo\u2019s starts this season and he has a 3.69 ERA. However, the right-hander\u2019s advanced numbers are much shakier than that. Lugo has an expected ERA of 5.20 (which ranks in the 15th percentile) and he ranks in the 11th percentile in expected BAA, fourth percentile in whiff percentage and the 19th percentile in barrel percentage.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay has been pretty dominant at home (27-12) so far this season while the Royals are 10 games under .500 on the road and currently in last place in the AL Central. Even though Kansas City took the first two games of this series, I think Tampa Bay is a no-brainer bet on Thursday afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pick: Rays Moneyline (-143 at DraftKings)<\/a><\/p>\n

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/p>\n

Claim the latest\u00a0DraftKings promo code<\/a>\u00a0offer today. Sign up and get\u00a0$200 in bonus bets instantly when you make your first $5 bet.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals wrap up a four-game set on Thursday afternoon, and Tampa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-319495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}