The Kansas City Royals saw their three-game win streak come to an end on Tuesday after being beaten by the lowly Oakland Athletics in an unexpected 10-8 barnburner.
Kansas City’s having a rollercoaster month to say the least, as the team also lost five consecutive games prior to their recent three-game win streak. They’ll need to prevent another skid from happening in order to stay on par in the AL’s wild card race, especially since they’re just 3-7 on the road since July 31.
Struggling starter Danny Duffy (7-8, 3.68 ERA) will get the nod in Wednesday’s contest, and it’s worth noting that the 28-year-old lefty will likely provide volatile results. Duffy has yet to pick up a win this August, having allowed a total of 12 runs (eight earned) in 12 combined innings of work for the month. On the other hand, the Cali native is 3-0 with a 2.33 ERA in 19.1 combined innings of work in Oakland Coliseum, so he’ll definitely need to deliver a gem on the road for the Royals to prevent back-to-back upsets from happening.
With not much left worth fighting for, the Oakland Athletics are still competing rather well against some of the AL’s playoff hopefuls.
Beginning from August 4, the A’s have faced off against the Angels, Mariners, Orioles and Royals – all four teams currently within striking distance of the final wild card spot in the AL – and have proven to be a tough out. They’ve gone 5-6 during that 11-game span, and could hand another crucial defeat to Kansas City this Wednesday.
Looking to do just that is rookie starter Paul Blackburn (3-1, 3.02 ERA), who’s been quite a revelation through his eight big-league starts thus far. The 23-year-old righty looked rather shaky in his last start, but the A’s haven’t lost in all three of their most recent games with Blackburn seeing action.
Since Wednesday’s pitching duel could seemingly go both ways, Oakland’s best chance of taking another game over the Royals is with their bats. Luckily, hard-hitter Ryon Healy (7-of-15 with three RBIs over the last four games) will get a crack at another lefty in KC’s Duffy. Against left-handed pitchers this season, Healy is batting .359 along with seven home runs and 21 RBIs.
Writer’s Prediction
The Athletics (+120) win another close one over the Royals, although with a much lower final score of 4-3 in comparison to Tuesday’s shootout.
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