Athletics aim to end slide in matchup with the Royals

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Athletics (49-78, fifth in the AL West) vs. Kansas City Royals (54-74, fifth in the AL Central)

Kansas City, Missouri; Thursday, 2:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: Gage Jump (5-7, 4.50 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 85 strikeouts); Royals: Randy Dobnak (2-1, 1.73 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 25 strikeouts)

LINE: Royals -138, Athletics +121; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Athletics, on a three-game losing streak, take on the Kansas City Royals.

Kansas City is 54-74 overall and 32-30 at home. The Royals have a 34-14 record in games when they scored at least five runs.

The Athletics are 49-78 overall and 26-38 in road games. The Athletics are 26-14 in games when they hit two or more home runs.

The teams meet Thursday for the seventh time this season. The Royals are up 4-2 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bobby Witt Jr. has 26 doubles, a triple and 15 home runs for the Royals. Jac Caglianone is 16 for 36 with a double and two home runs over the last 10 games.

Jeff McNeil has six home runs, 25 walks and 43 RBIs while hitting .264 for the Athletics. Henry Bolte is 15 for 41 with two doubles, a home run and four RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 5-5, .233 batting average, 4.75 ERA, outscored by two runs

Athletics: 3-7, .260 batting average, 6.19 ERA, outscored by 16 runs

INJURIES: Royals: Beck Way: 15-Day IL (back), Connor Seabold: 60-Day IL (lat), Tony Gonsolin: 15-Day IL (elbow), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow), Nick Mears: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Luinder Avila: 60-Day IL (forearm), Cole Ragans: 60-Day IL (elbow), Carlos Estevez: 60-Day IL (foot), Stephen Kolek: 60-Day IL (flexor), Jonathan India: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Athletics: Jacob Wilson: day-to-day (undisclosed), Nick Kurtz: 10-Day IL (thumb), Tyler Soderstrom: 10-Day IL (hip), Brooks Kriske: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Denzel Clarke: 60-Day IL (foot), Justin Sterner: 60-Day IL (knee), Jose Suarez: 15-Day IL (hip), Mark Leiter Jr.: 60-Day IL (hip), Shea Langeliers: 10-Day IL (knee), Luis Severino: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Josh Kuroda-Grauer: 10-Day IL (testicle), Brent Rooker: 60-Day IL (knee), Gunnar Hoglund: 60-Day IL (knee)

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