AP Sports Preview KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Interstat) — The Tampa Bay Rays visit the Kansas City Royals on Thursday at 7:10 p.m. CDT at Kauffman Stadium. The forecast calls for 87 degrees and cloudy skies. Tampa Bay (49-33) holds the best record in the American League and leads the AL East by 4½ games. Kansas City (35-51) is last in the AL Central, 17 games behind Cleveland. The Rays have won two straight in this four-game series, including a 10-4 victory Tuesday and a 2-0 shutout Wednesday. Tampa Bay has taken six of the last nine meetings between the clubs, though the Royals won three of four in St. Petersburg from June 22-25. Right-hander Griffin Jax (6-2, 3.12 ERA) is scheduled to start for Tampa Bay. Jax has been excellent against Kansas City this season, winning both of his starts — a 5-3 victory June 24 and a 10-4 win Tuesday. In those two outings, he allowed three earned runs over 11 innings with 12 strikeouts. Overall, he has yielded two earned runs or fewer in four of his last five starts. Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals at the plate. Witt went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs in Tuesday’s loss to Tampa Bay. He is 11-for-36 (.306) over his last nine games with three homers and seven RBIs. However, he is 1-for-7 in the series’ two games since that performance. The Rays are coming off a 6-1 homestand against Arizona and Kansas City, taking five of six. Third baseman Junior Caminero is 5-for-14 with two homers and five RBIs in three games against the Royals this week. Reliever Craig Kimbrel has not allowed a run in his last four appearances, striking out five over 3⅔ innings. Kansas City has lost three of four overall. The Royals’ pitching staff has allowed 17 runs over the first two games of this series. Right-hander Beck Way worked 1⅓ scoreless innings Tuesday, and right-hander Steven Cruz has not allowed a run in three straight appearances. The Interstat game simulator projects a 7-4 Tampa Bay victory. After Thursday, the Rays travel to Houston for three games against the Astros beginning Friday. The Royals return home to host the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.