Oakland Athletics vs. Kansas City Royals (8:10 pm ET, CSNCA)
Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals compete in Game 1 (8:10 pm ET, CSNCA), on Friday, at the Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri. The Athletics have a 43-46 home, 17-26 away record whereas the Royals have a 39-49 away, 18-21 home record making for some very interesting baseball lines.
Kansas City Royals are playing better than earlier this year. Zack Greinke’s return will only help the team.
Kansas City, under manager Trey Hillman is 27-26, after opening 12-23, since Ned Yost took over on May 14. Before getting swept in a three-game series last weekend, the Royals (39-49) had won 10 of 13 to AL Central-leading Chicago. In Sunday’s finale, Kansas City was outscored 28-8, including 15-5.
The Royals ranks first in the majors with a .282 batting average and is led by DeJesus, hitting at .326. The right-hander, Greinke (5-8, 3.71 ERA) was slated to start Sunday and he will be taking the hill on nine days rest. While striking out nine in seven innings of a 3-2 win in Seattle, he has not pitched since allowing an unearned run and two hits on July 6. Against Oakland, in seven career starts, Greinke also is 4-0 with a 2.98 ERA.
In recent weeks, Oakland (43-46) has struggled while their opponents, the Royals have improved. Since to drop well behind first-place Texas, the A’s have lost 22 of 37, although they were 28-24 and atop the AL West on May 31. Including a 5-2 win Sunday, from the Angels, they managed to take two of three.
Oakland’s struggles are due to injuries. Brett Anderson, Dallas Braden and Justin Duchscherer were down and out because of injuries, although Anderson and Braden are expected to return. For 70 games, Oakland was without outfielder Coco Crisp, second baseman Mark Ellis for a month and catcher Kurt Suzuki for three weeks.
In the opener, the A’s will go with the inconsistent Gio Gonzalez. Gonzalez (7-6, 3.79) allowed five runs, eight hits and five walks in four innings, last Wednesday, in a 6-2 loss to the New York Yankees. With a 3.58 ERA, the left-hander is 3-3 in his 10 starts since May 22.
