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Today James Shields as a Kansas City Royals ace heads to the mound to face off against his old team at home in the Tampa Bay Rays. Typically you may be worried when a pitcher faces his old team, usually because it’s a pitcher that has barely made the rotation and is a journeyman. Shields is not that type and still has plenty of great pitching ahead of him.

What I like best in this matchup are two factors. Both Shields and Alex Cobb have been able to pitch six plus innings in all their starts this season. While doing so they’ve also pitched against some strong lineups with positive results. Shields last three starts have come against Detroit (3ER), Boston (1 ER), and Toronto (CG 3 ER). Cobb’s last three starts were against the Yankees (0 runs), Oakland (3 ER), and Boston (3 ER).

Take the under on todays matchup