KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Interstat) — The Tampa Bay Rays visit the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. at Kauffman Stadium. The forecast calls for 87 degrees with clouds. Tampa Bay (48-33) enters with the best record in the American League East, winners of four straight and eight of their last 10. The Rays are coming off a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks at home, outscoring them 15-4. Right-hander Drew Rasmussen will start for the Rays. He is 8-3 with a 2.95 ERA this season. In his last outing June 28 against Arizona, Rasmussen earned a win, pitching six innings of three-hit, scoreless ball with five strikeouts. Over his last five starts, the right-hander has allowed three earned runs across 33 innings, striking out 41. On June 22, Rasmussen took a loss against the Royals, allowing two earned runs in six innings. Kansas City (35-50) has the second-worst record in the American League, but split its last six games. The Royals are coming off a split in Chicago against the White Sox. They won Sunday 5-4. Reliever Alex Lange has been a key piece in the Kansas City bullpen. The right-hander holds a 4.87 ERA this season, though he has been effective of late, posting a 1.59 ERA over his last nine appearances. He has allowed one earned run in 8 2/3 innings in that span, striking out 12. Lange did struggle June 26 in Chicago, allowing five earned runs without recording an out. The teams have met five times this season, with the Royals leading the series 3-2. Kansas City won the last meeting in Tampa, 2-1, on June 22, but the Rays won the series opener Tuesday night, 6-3. Interstat’s game simulator projects a 7-5 final in favor of Tampa Bay. The Rays are a -1.5 favorite per BetMGM, with the over/under set at 10 runs. The game is the second of a four-game set before Tampa Bay travels to Houston and Kansas City hosts Philadelphia.