Kansas City Royals and Seattle Mariners play in game 2 of series

Updated Jun. 8, 2024 4:01 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Seattle Mariners (36-29, first in the AL West) vs. Kansas City Royals (38-26, second in the AL Central)

Kansas City, Missouri; Saturday, 4:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Mariners: Luis Castillo (5-6, 2.99 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 81 strikeouts); Royals: Alec Marsh (4-3, 3.76 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 46 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Mariners -122, Royals +103; over/under is 9 runs

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

Kansas City has a 23-10 record at home and a 38-26 record overall. Royals hitters are batting a collective .254, the fifth-best team batting average in MLB play.

Seattle has a 36-29 record overall and a 15-18 record on the road. The Mariners have a 20-2 record in games when they scored at least five runs.

Saturday's game is the fifth time these teams meet this season. The season series is tied 2-2.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bobby Witt Jr. has 16 doubles, seven triples and 11 home runs while hitting .323 for the Royals. Nelson Velazquez is 5-for-34 with a triple and three home runs over the last 10 games.

Caleb Raleigh is third on the Mariners with 16 extra base hits (five doubles and 11 home runs). Luke Raley is 6-for-26 with two doubles, two home runs and four RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 4-6, .260 batting average, 5.44 ERA, outscored by six runs

Mariners: 7-3, .208 batting average, 2.53 ERA, outscored opponents by 15 runs

INJURIES: Royals: 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)

Mariners: Gabe Speier: 15-Day IL (rotator cuff), Sam Haggerty: 60-Day IL (achilles), Jorge Polanco: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Matt Brash: 60-Day IL (elbow), Gregory Santos: 60-Day IL (lat), Jackson Kowar: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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