Kansas City Royals and Tampa Bay Rays meet in game 2 of series

Updated Jun. 23, 2023 3:59 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Kansas City Royals (21-54, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (52-26, first in the AL East)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Zack Greinke (1-7, 4.34 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 58 strikeouts); Rays: Zach Eflin (8-3, 3.26 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 77 strikeouts)

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Rays -273, Royals +222; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals meet the Tampa Bay Rays with a 1-0 series lead.

Tampa Bay is 32-9 at home and 52-26 overall. The Rays have the second-best team ERA in baseball at 3.57.

Kansas City is 11-26 on the road and 21-54 overall. The Royals are 9-41 in games when they have given up at least one home run.

The matchup Friday is the second meeting between these teams this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Randy Arozarena is sixth on the Rays with 24 extra base hits (nine doubles, a triple and 14 home runs). Isaac Paredes is 8-for-28 with a double, 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 four RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rays: 4-6, .263 batting average, 3.56 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs

Royals: 3-7, .254 batting average, 4.96 ERA, outscored by 15 runs

INJURIES: Rays: Shane McClanahan: day-to-day (back), 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 (undisclosed), 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.