Royals And Rangers Offenses Will Be Kept Quiet

Royals vs. Rangers, 2:35 ET

Sometimes there are bad picks, and sometimes there is bad luck. I had the latter yesterday as I dropped a play between the Red Sox and the Mariners. The total for the game was an extremely low 6.5, which doesn't leave a ton of room for error anyway, but even just looking at the first few games on the scoreboard, six of seven games would be under that total. Unfortunately, I took the under 3.5 for the first five innings, and the teams scored four runs for the full game… all of which came in the first five innings. Let's see what we can do here as the Royals wrap up a series against the Rangers. 

The Royals are below .500 and have been floating around the mark most of the season. We can probably assume that the playoff teams are going to be somewhere between seven and 15 games above .500 when all is said and done. There are still over 90 games remaining in the season, but at a certain point we have to call a team what they are. The Royals had a great season last season, but this one just hasn't been as encouraging. I can't point to just one issue with the team, either. They have a good offense, and their pitching staff is pretty decent as well. For whatever reason, they just aren't winning games. They do have a chance to sweep today after the A's swept them in their last series. Looking to close out the sweep for the team is Michael Wacha. Overall, Wacha has put together a good career and has been reliable as he has been bouncing around teams over the past five seasons. This year he is 2-6 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. He has struggled a bit on the road, but only in comparison to how he has pitched at home. None of the road starts have been egregiously bad. Rangers hitters have done rather well against him, getting 17 hits in 58 at-bats, including a 7-for-17 mark from Corey Seager.

May 31, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Michael Wacha (52) delivers a pitch against the Detroit Tigers in the first inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The more I watch the Rangers over this year and last year, the more I feel like 2023 was a fluke. Look, it was a fluke in the best possible way. The team won the World Series, and their offense was dominant that year. Sometimes things just come together. Unfortunately, you can't always have it work out from year to year. For whatever reason, teams seem to collectively hit or don't. Pitching can be good one year and not the next. Consistency is really difficult and the Rangers were great one year, but have been consistently average since that point. Sure, injuries have been a factor, but everyone deals with them. The Rangers have been good at home this year, currently eight games over .500 and look to Shawn Armstrong to put that number to nine games over. Armstrong is 2-1 with a 2.90 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. This is over the course of just 31 innings, as he is a reliever, but it is still impressive work. This is going to be a bullpen game for the Rangers. Probably a good sign as the Rangers have the seventh-best bullpen in the league. 

Teams can be rather streaky and maybe we can catch the Royals coming out of a bad streak and into a good one. The Rangers are in a good position seeing as they are winning the majority of their home games. The Royals offense has certainly looked better this series though with them scoring six runs in both games. The Rangers offense hasn't gotten much, though. With the bullpen game, and Wacha on the hill for the Royals, I don't feel super confident in either side. Instead, I like the under as I think both teams will find runs few and far between. Back under 8.5. 

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