On Monday, the Kansas City Royals head west to play the Los Angeles Angels in the first game of a three-game series.
The Royals defeated the Oakland Athletics 5-4 on Saturday to level their current three-game series with the A’s at 1-1 with the final game on Sunday. Jorge Soler homered in the eighth inning to break a tie and the Royals shut down the A’s in the eighth and ninth innings for the win, as rookie reliever Tim Hill won for the first time in his major league career.
The Angels lost on Saturday 3-2 to the Texas Rangers and have lost three of their last four overall. Los Angeles has dropped to 5 ½ games off the pace in the AL West behind Seattle and Houston who are tied atop the division.
Jon Jay leads the Royals with a .305 batting average and team high 69 hits. Mike Moustakas is the team leader in home runs with 12 and RBIs with 39. Kansas City has a team batting average of .257 while opposing hitters are averaging .279 at the plate against Royals pitching. Kansas City will send Danny Duffy to the mound on Monday. The left-hander this season is 2-6 with an ERA of 5.71, 54 Ks and 31 BBs.
Andrelton Simmons leads the Angels with a .336 batting average and team high 71 hits. Mike Trout is the team leader in home runs with 19 and RBIs with 37. Los Angeles has a team batting average of .248 while opposing hitters are averaging .242 at the plate against Angels pitching. Los Angeles has not yet announced the starting pitcher for Monday’s home game against the Royals.
