Athletics play the Royals with 1-0 series lead

By AP News Published Jun 19, 2024 01:14 am

Kansas City Royals (41-33, third in the AL Central) vs. Oakland Athletics (27-48, fifth in the AL West)

Oakland, California; Wednesday, 9:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Cole Ragans (4-4, 3.14 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 102 strikeouts); Athletics: Luis Medina (0-2, 5.87 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 10 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Royals -178, Athletics +149; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Oakland Athletics take a 1-0 lead into the next game of the series against the Kansas City Royals.

Oakland has a 16-20 record at home and a 27-48 record overall. The Athletics are fifth in MLB play with 85 total home runs, averaging 1.1 per game.

Kansas City has a 41-33 record overall and a 16-19 record on the road. Royals hitters are batting a collective .249, which ranks fourth in the AL.

Wednesday’s game is the fifth time these teams square off this season. The Royals are ahead 3-1 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Shea Langeliers leads the Athletics with 13 home runs while slugging .434. JJ Bleday is 14-for-40 with four doubles, a home run and four RBI over the last 10 games.

Bobby Witt Jr. has 19 doubles, seven triples, 11 home runs and 51 RBI for the Royals. MJ Melendez is 6-for-28 with three home runs and 10 RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Athletics: 1-9, .230 batting average, 5.71 ERA, outscored by 24 runs

Royals: 3-7, .220 batting average, 5.01 ERA, outscored by 14 runs

INJURIES: Athletics: Kyle Muller: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Alex Wood: 60-Day IL (rotator cuff), Paul Blackburn: 60-Day IL (foot), Ross Stripling: 15-Day IL (elbow), Esteury Ruiz: 10-Day IL (wrist), Darell Hernaiz: 60-Day IL (ankle), Ken Waldichuk: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Gott: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Royals: Hunter Renfroe: 10-Day IL (toe), Michael Wacha: 15-Day IL (foot), Michael Massey: 10-Day IL (back), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (biceps), Kris Bubic: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kyle Wright: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

By The Associated Press