MLB Baseball
2025-08-21 - Texas Rangers at Kansas City Royals
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : MLB Baseball
Thursday 21st August 2025 - Scheduled 2:10pm
7:10pm (British Time)
Preview
It really does feel like the regular season is winding down when you get to under 40 games left and we are firmly into the final quarter of the campaign.
With that in mind, the wins and losses begin to increase with importance and 2023 World Champions Texas Rangers (63-65) need to find some momentum. They have lost six of the last eight games, which means being unable to take advantage of the slumping Houston Astros within the American League West and also falling away in the Wild Card race, although the win on Wednesday just keeps them interested.
This feels important to put another on the board against the Kansas City Royals (65-62) who are only interested in securing one of the three Wild Card spots available in the American League. They are 10 games behind the Detroit Tigers in the Central Division, but the Royals are very much chasing down the teams in the Wild Card spots, while also playing with more consistency of late.
A four game set comes to a conclusion on Thursday and the Royals can win the series by taking the last of the games.
They will hand the ball to Michael Lorenzen who has a 5-8 record and 4.43 ERA in nineteen starts this season having only arrived in Kansas City in a trade from the Rangers during the 2024 year.
The veteran has just spent a month on the sidelines and Michael Lorenzen returned to throw 4 scoreless Innings on his return. He will be aware that the bullpen is playing well enough to back him up against his former team and that may allow Lorenzen to thrown with some confidence in the time he has on the mound.
Having been a member of the Texas Rangers, Michael Lorenzen will be facing this team for the first time in three years. He has a 0-0 record with a 3.86 ERA in three career appearances against the Rangers, although this is set to be just the second start.
Texas will counter with a veteran of their own when handing the ball to Patrick Corbin who has a 6-9 record and 4.45 ERA in twenty-three starts this season. The ERA is an improvement on what Corbin has produced in his last few seasons with the Washington Nationals, but recent outings have not been as productive as the pitcher would have liked.
August has been difficult for Patrick Corbin who has a 0-2 record from three starts, while also holding a 12.10 ERA. The early issues in starts have meant Patrick Corbin has thrown fewer than 10 completed Innings in those starts and that will be a concern for a Rangers team looking to find a way to put a streak of wins together.
In one start against the Kansas City Royals this season, Patrick Corbin was knocked around for four runs in 5 Innings and he suffered the decision loss. Last year with the Washington Nationals, Corbin gave up the same number of runs to the Royals and only had one extra out before being withdrawn from the game.
The Royals had won the first five games between these ball clubs in 2025, but that was snapped in the loss on Wednesday.
Prediction
The momentum may be with the Texas Rangers after the win on Wednesday evening, but the Kansas City Royals will feel the Thursday starter can lay a stronger foundation for a series win compared with Patrick Corbin.
With the Royals bullpen looking sharp in recent outings, Kansas City can get the Wild Card chase back on track with a victory.
The Pick :
Kansas City Royals 6-4 Texas Rangers
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Kansas City Royals to Win at -116 with EveryGame Sportsbook
