Kansas City Royals vs Oakland Athletics Prediction 5-18-24 Picks

The Oakland A’s and the Kansas City Royals meet Saturday in MLB action from Kauffman Stadium. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s an Kansas City Royals vs Oakland Athletics Prediction.

Starting Pitching Matchup

The Oakland A’s will send out Ross Stripling here and Stripling is 1-7 with a 4.98 ERA and 30 strikeouts this season. In his career, Stripling is 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA and 3 strikeouts against Kansas City. The Royals will trot out Seth Lugo for the start here and Lugo is 6-1 with a 1.66 ERA and 48 strikeouts this season. This will be Lugo’s second career start against the A’s.

Oakland A’s Recap

The Oakland A’s come into this one looking to bounce back after another frustrating performance on Friday, pushing the losing streak to six after their 6-2 loss in Friday’s matchup. The Loss wasn’t a good start for Oakland, who will be hoping to use this series to bounce back from series losses to the Astros and Mariners in the last week.

A’s Slumping In The Last Week

Going into Friday’s Game, Brent Rooker leads the A’s with 10 home runs and 28 RBIs this season while Abraham Toro has a team-high 44 hits and 17 RBIs. JJ Bleday has a team-high 11 doubles, 37 hits and 18 RBIs and Toro has a .288 batting average. Rooker also has the unfortunate title of leading strikeout bat with 43 K’s at the dish this season. Shea Langeliers has also chipped in 9 home runs and 24 RBIs.

Why the Oakland Athletics will win

• The Royals have lost each of their last four games as favorites against the Athletics following a win.
• The underdogs have won five of the Athletics’ last six games at Kauffman Stadium.
• The Royals have failed to cover the run line in each of their last seven night games against the Athletics at Kauffman Stadium following a home win.
• The underdogs have covered the run line in five of the Athletics’ last six games at Kauffman Stadium.
• The Royals have trailed after 3 innings in four of their last five games as home favorites against AL West opponents.

Kansas City Royals Recap

The Kansas City Royals will hope to keep the ball rolling after their win in Friday’s series opener. The win was the ideal start to the set after their series loss to the Mariners to start the week.

Royals Struggling With Consistent Play

Entering Friday’s matchup, Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals with 51 hits including 5 home runs, 23 RBIs, 5 triples and 11 doubles while Salvador Perez has a team-high 8 home runs and 33 RBIs with 50 hits of his own. Nelson Velazquez also has a team-high 43 strikeouts while Witt Jr. has a team-high 15 stolen bases and Maikel Garcia has 4 home runs, 25 RBIs and 10 stolen bases this season.

Why the Kansas City Royals will win

• The Royals have won each of their last 11 home games against teams that held a losing record.
• The Athletics have lost each of their last eight night games against AL Central opponents following a road loss.
• The Athletics have failed to cover the run line in each of their last seven night games against AL Central opponents.
• The Royals have covered the run line each of their last six home games against teams that held a losing record.
• The Athletics have lost the first inning in each of their last three games at Kauffman Stadium.
• The Athletics have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last six night games against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
• The Athletics have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last six games.

Kansas City Royals vs Oakland Athletics Prediction

I’m on the Royals here. The Royals have been just the better team and while they’ve been struggling with consistency, the one thing the A’s have done consistently as of late is lose and lose handily. Lugo’s been really solid for much of the season, and has been a great arm to back for KC this season regardless of where he’s taken the mound. Give me Kansas City in this one as well.