Keys to the series, game times as Royals continue road trip against the Athletics
The Kansas City Royals will try to snap their five-game losing streak as they begin a series with the American League West Division leaders, the Oakland Athletics.
The Royals (29-31) were swept in a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim. The series with the Athletics will conclude a seven-game West Coast road trip.
The Athletics (37-26) have won six of seven games entering this series.
Series rundown
SCHEDULE: Thursday, 8:40 p.m. CT; Friday, 8:40 p.m. CT; Saturday, 3:07 p.m. CT; Sunday, 3:07 p.m. CT.
PLACE: The Oakland Coliseum
PITCHING PROBABLES: Thursday: KC LHP Mike Minor (4-3, 4.84) vs. Oakland RHP Frankie Montas (6-5, 4.52); Friday: KC RHP Brady Singer (3-5, 4.88) vs. Oakland LHP Cole Irvin (4-7, 3.89); Saturday: KC RHP Jackson Kowar (0-1, 54.00) vs. Oakland RHP James Kaprielian (2-1, 3.08); Sunday: KC LHP Kris Bubic (1-1, 3.32) vs. Oakland RHP Chris Bassitt (6-2, 3.44)
TV: All four games will be broadcast by Bally Sports Kansas City.
RADIO: All four games will air on KCSP Radio (610 AM).
NOTABLE: Former Royals pitcher and Lee’s Summit native Trevor Rosenthal had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome on April 8. He’s on the club’s 60-day injured list. … Shortstop Adalberto Mondesi remains on the IL, but he has been taking part in batting practice, early work on the field and ground balls.
Keys to the series
The Royals’ ability to get their offense going will be critical. They were held to five runs in the three games against the Angels and batted .206 (20-for-97).
Prior to their five-game losing streak, the Royals had scored five runs or more in seven consecutive games and batted an MLB-best .314 during that stretch. They averaged eight runs/game in that span.
First baseman Carlos Santana ranks second on the team in both home runs (10) and RBI (36, tied), but he has slashed .120/.241/.120 In his last seven games.
Meanwhile, in their past seven games, Athletics starting pitchers have gone 5-1 with a 2.57 ERA.
The Athletics entered Wednesday’s games with an offense that includes hitters ranked among the AL leaders in runs scored (Mark Canha, first), home runs (Matt Olson, fourth), extra-base hits (Olson, sixth), OBP (Canha, eighth) and slugging percentage (Olson, third).
This story was originally published June 10, 2021 at 10:08 AM.
