The Kansas City Royals conclude their four-game series on the road Sunday against the Oakland Athletics.
The Royals have lost both of the first two games in the series including Friday night’s 7-2 setback. The loss was Kansas City’s sixth straight overall. Frankie Montas shut out the Royals into the eighth inning to earn his third straight win since his call up from Triple-A by the A’s. Khris Davis hit two home runs for the A’s, while Dustin Fowler hit one and Jonathan Lucroy had three RBIs. Jakob Junis took the loss for KC to fall to 5-6. Junis gave up 10 hits and six runs over 5 1/3 innings.
Whit Merrifield leads the Royals with a .307 batting average and a team high 68 hits. Mike Moustakas leads the team in home runs with 13and RBIs with 42. Kansas City has a team batting of .251 while opposing hitters are averaging .281 at the plate against Royals pitching. On Sunday, the Royals will send Brad Keller to the mound. The right-hander is 1-2 with an ERA of 2.12, 19 Ks and 9 BBs.
Jed Lowrie leads Oakland with a .289 batting average and team high 72 hits. Khris Davis is the team leader in home runs with 17 and RBIs with 46. Oakland has a team batting average .243 while opposing hitters are averaging .244 at the plate against Athletics pitching. On Sunday, the A’s will send Sean Manaea to the mound. The left-hander this season is 5-6 with an ERA of 3.59, 58 Ks and 18 BBs.
