The Oakland Athletics had a .500 record just two weeks ago, but are losing ground in the American League West race rapidly and will look to get back on track when they face the Kansas City Royals on the road on Tuesday.
Oakland Athletics vs. Kansas City Royals (-185, 9.5)
Seth Lugo gets the starting pitching start for Kansas City, who leads the American League among qualifying starters with six wins and a 1.66 ERA.
While Lugo has gotten just 7.2 strikeouts per nine innings, he’s induced soft contact and made hitters warm their way on, giving up just 0.8 home runs and 1.8 walks per nine inning.
Lugo also gets to face an Athletics lineup that entered the series generating the second-fewest runs per game on the road this season with 2.9 runs per game despite their over 1.2 home runs per game away from home ranking third in the league.
Opposing Lugo for Oakland on the mound is Stripling, whose seven losses lead the American League though his 4.05 fielding independent point to him being a better pitcher than the surface level numbers would indicate.
Stripling has a 4.98 zERA with just one home runs and 2.3 walks per nine innings allowed and is backed up by one of the better bullpens in the American League.
The Athletics back up Stripling with a bullpen that entered this series 10th in ERA with a mark of 3.41 while the Royals bullpen entered the series 14th in ERA.
With the Athletics struggling to generate offense while their pitching as a whole has been respectable, Saturday sets up for another strong start for Lugo and a low scoring game.
The Play: Athletics vs. Royals Under 9.5 Runs
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