The Oakland A's and Kansas City Royals will take the field on Saturday at Kauffman Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.
Oakland (6-26 SU and 13-19 RL) was swept by Seattle in its last series. The Athletics are starting left-hander Ken Waldichuk (0-2 with a 7.26 ERA in six starts) tomorrow.
Kansas City (8-24 SU and 11-21 RL) lost two of three to Baltimore in its previous series. The Royals are countering with right-hander Brady Singer (2-3 with an 8.49 ERA in six outings) in game two of this three-game set.
KC is a -155 moneyline favorite and the game total is 9.5.
Losers of eight of their last ten overall, the A's are in a freefall. With expectations as low as they can be, will this team rise to the occasion or become a running joke?
Oakland scores 3.72 runs per game (27th) and hits .225 (29th) with a .670 OPS (26th). It's hit 34 home runs (20th) and stolen 34 bases (4th) in 2023. CF Esteury Ruiz paces the ballclub in hits (31), batting average (.265), and OBP (.338), and LF Brent Rooker leads the A's in home runs (9) and runs batted in (22). The Athletics pitching staff has compiled a 7.37 ERA (30th) and a 1.73 WHIP (30th) with five quality starts.
Esteury switched it into hyperspeed ?? pic.twitter.com/03wiTwPZYZ
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) May 4, 2023
Waldichuk takes the mound on Saturday for the visiting team. The 25-year-old is coming off a solid outing against Cincinnati (three earned runs and seven Ks in 5.2 innings) and also pitched well on April 18 against the Cubs (no earned runs and five Ks in 5.0 innings). The southpaw has never faced KC in his big-league career.
See our expert Kentucky Derby predictions with exotics betting strategies. A parlay bettors dream!