Kansas City Royals (56-96, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Oakland Athletics (91-61, second in the AL West)
Oakland, California; Wednesday, 3 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Danny Duffy (6-6, 4.55 ERA) Athletics: Homer Bailey (13-8, 4.76 ERA)
LINE: Athletics -220; over/under is 9 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals travel to play the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.
The Athletics are 49-28 in home games. Oakland has hit 246 home runs this season, fifth in the MLB. Matt Olson leads the club with 35, averaging one every 12.7 at-bats.
The Royals have gone 27-49 away from home. Kansas City is hitting a collective .245 this season, led by Whit Merrifield with an average of .305. The Athletics won the last meeting 2-1. A.J. Puk earned his second victory and Olson went 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI for Oakland. Jorge Lopez registered his eighth loss for Kansas City.
TOP PERFORMERS: Marcus Semien leads the Athletics with 76 extra base hits and is batting .282. Khris Davis has 11 hits and is batting .297 over the last 10 games for Oakland.
Merrifield leads the Royals with 195 hits and is batting .305. Jorge Soler has 14 hits and is batting .350 over the last 10 games for Kansas City.
LAST 10 GAMES: Athletics: 8-2, .268 batting average, 4.85 ERA, outscored opponents by 16 runs
Royals: 4-6, .244 batting average, 5.69 ERA, outscored by 20 runs
Athletics Injuries: Daniel Gossett: (elbow), Mike Fiers: (forearm), Stephen Piscotty: (ankle), Luis Barrera: (shoulder).
Royals Injuries: Trevor Oaks: (hip), Kelvin Gutierrez: (toe), Salvador Perez: (elbow).
