Athletics and Royals square off in series rubber match

Kansas City Royals (12-18, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Athletics (16-14, first in the AL West)

West Sacramento, California; Thursday, 3:05 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Noah Cameron (2-1, 5.13 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, 23 strikeouts); Athletics: Jeffrey Springs (3-2, 3.79 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 31 strikeouts)

LINE: Athletics -128, Royals +108; over/under is 9 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Both the Athletics and the Kansas City Royals are looking for a series win with a victory on Thursday.

The Athletics have a 16-14 record overall and a 6-6 record in home games. The Athletics have gone 10-2 in games when they scored at least five runs.

Kansas City has a 3-11 record in road games and a 12-18 record overall. The Royals have the seventh-ranked team slugging percentage in the AL at .385.

Thursday's game is the third time these teams square off this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Shea Langeliers has six doubles and eight home runs while hitting .314 for the Athletics. Nick Kurtz is 10 for 38 with a double and four home runs over the last 10 games.

Bobby Witt Jr. has nine doubles, a triple and two home runs for the Royals. Salvador Perez is 11 for 45 with a double and two home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Athletics: 6-4, .266 batting average, 3.45 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs

Royals: 5-5, .275 batting average, 5.28 ERA, outscored by three runs

INJURIES: Athletics: Max Muncy: 10-Day IL (hand), Denzel Clarke: 10-Day IL (foot), Gunnar Hoglund: 60-Day IL (knee)

Royals: Vinnie Pasquantino: day-to-day (back), Bailey Falter: 15-Day IL (elbow), Jonathan India: 10-Day IL (shoulder), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow), Stephen Kolek: 15-Day IL (oblique), Carlos Estevez: 15-Day IL (foot), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.