Danny Duffy (1-0, 6.35 ERA) and the Kansas City Royals (8-3) meet Scott Kazmir (2-0, 0.69 ERA) and the Oakland Athletics (6-6) in the last of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium. The Athletics won the last game 5-0 and the series is currently tied 1-1. The game starts at 2:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, Apr. 19 and will air on CSN-CA and FSN-KC.
Duffy is 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA against the Athletics in his career, but faces a strong Oakland offense that’s hitting .284 on the year. In his pitching opportunities against the Royals, Kazmir is 4-7 with a 5.11 ERA. He gets a solid Kansas City offense that’s batting .317. Stephen Vogt (.368, 6 Rs, 3 HRs, 9 RBIs) has been hitting the ball well to start the season for the Athletics, going 2 for 4 yesterday with one run and one RBI.
Kansas City is favored by a small -106 margin in its matchup against Oakland. Oddsmakers have set the Over/Under (O/U) at seven runs. The Royals perform well as a favorite with a 4-2 record and have an overall money line of +613. The Royals are a superb hitting team with an AL-best 12.5 hits per home game. Don’t expect the Kansas City hitters to swing wildly. They average an AL-low 5.1 strikeouts per game. As for the pitching staff, the Royals don’t allow many hitters to get on base, leading the league with a 0.99 WHIP.
Across the field, the Athletics have a record of 2-2 when they are the underdog and are -264 overall with the money line. The Athletics are known for their bats, hitting a league-leading 43 extra base hits. Opposing pitchers have routinely struggled to strike out the Oakland batters, who rank second in the AL with 6.5 strikeouts per game. Switching gears to Oakland’s pitching staff, they have a WHIP of 1.04 on the year, good for fourth in the league.
Predictions: SU Winner – KC, O/U – Over
Notes
Oakland has won 29% (2-5) of its games when leading after 7 innings. However, Kansas City has won all of its games (5-0) when taking a late lead.
Having scored zero runs in their last game, the Royals are going to have to up their game if they want to win this matchup. The Athletics have a 5-0 record in games where opponents scored that many runs.
When they are outhit, the Royals are 0-2. The Athletics have a 1-3 record when opponents outhit them.
Oakland ranks in the bottom half of the league at 16th when it comes to home runs, hitting 10 this season. Kansas City ranks in the top half at 12th with 11.
Ranking first in hits, Kansas City has earned 11.70 per game this season. Oakland ranks third with 10.27 hits.
Kansas City ranks at the top of the league for its on-base plus slugging percentage of .853. Oakland ranks in the top 10 at sixth with an OPS of .780.
The Athletics are 1-4 in games where they allow one or more home runs. The Royals are 7-3 when they allow at least one homer.
