The Kansas City Royals and the Oakland A’s square off Wednesday in MLB action from the Oakland Coliseum. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Oakland Athletics vs Kansas City Royals Prediction.
Starting Pitching Matchup
The Kansas City Royals will send out Cole Ragans for the start here and Ragans is 4-4 with a 3.14 ERA and 102 strikeouts this season. In his career, Ragans is 2-1 with a 4.09 ERA and 26 strikeouts against the A’s. Luis Medina will start for Oakland here and is 0-2 with a 5.87 ERA and 10 strikeouts this season. This will be Medina’s first career start against the Royals.
Kansas City Royals Recap
The Kansas City Royals come into this one looking to bounce back after falling flat in a 7-5 loss in Tuesday’s series opener against the A’s, continuing the slide after series losses to the Dodgers and Yankees over the last week.
Royals Still Loaded Offensively
Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals with 96 hits including 11 home runs, 51 RBIs and team-highs of 7 triples and 19 doubles with 21 stolen bases. Salvador Perez also has 11 home runs with 45 RBIs and 15 doubles. Nelson Velazquez also has a team-high 61 strikeouts while Maikel Garcia has 5 home runs, 39 RBIs and 17 stolen bases along with 3 triples and 14 doubles this season. Vinnie Pasquantino has 19 doubles with 7 homers and 46 RBIs of his own on the year.
Why the Kansas City Royals will win
- The Athletics have lost each of their last 10 games following a win.
- The Royals have won 10 of their last 12 games against AL West opponents that held a losing record.
- The Athletics have failed to cover the run line in seven of their last eight games against American League opponents following a home win.
- The Royals have covered the run line in 11 of their last 13 night games against American League opponents following a road loss.
Oakland A’s Recap
The Oakland A’s will try to pick up another victory after their win in Tuesday’s opener to snap a nine-game losing streak, which includes series losses to the Twins, Padres and Blue Jays over the last week and a half.
A’s Break Out Offensively In Win
Brent Rooker leads the A’s with 42 RBIs along with 13 home runs this season while Abraham Toro has a team-high 70 hits and 24 RBIs. JJ Bleday has a team-high 22 doubles, 70 hits and 27 RBIs and Toro has a .256 batting average. Rooker also has the unfortunate title of leading strikeout bat with 88 K’s at the dish this season. Shea Langeliers has also chipped in 13 home runs and 36 RBIs.
Why the Oakland Athletics will win
- The home team has won each of the Athletics’ last eight games.
- The Royals have lost four of their last five games as favorites.
- The Athletics have covered the run line in eight of their last nine night games against American League opponents.
- The Royals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last five games as favorites.
- The Royals have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last five night games against American League opponents.
- The Royals have lost the first inning in each of their last four games as favorites against American League opponents.
- The Royals have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last four games as favorites against American League opponents.
Oakland Athletics vs Kansas City Royals Prediction
I’m on the Royals here. The A’s got to KC early and often on Tuesday, but realistically, stringing successful performances together hasn’t been something the A’s have been particularly known for this season. The Royals are the better team here and this is a huge pitching mismatch with Ragans over Medina, as Medina’s struggled mightily for much of the season and put his team in tough spots whenever he’s on the mound. I think the Royals bounce back in a big way on Wednesday, so give me Kansas City here.