Kansas City Royals vs. Oakland Athletics odds, tips and betting trends | May 17

At Kauffman Stadium on Friday, the Oakland Athletics (19-27) open a three-game series versus the Kansas City Royals (26-19), at 7:40 PM ET.

The Athletics are road underdogs (+166) at the Royals (-200). The Royals will give the ball to Cole Ragans (2-3) against the Athletics and Mitch Spence (3-1).

Before the Royals vs. Athletics matchup, here’s what you need to get ready for Friday’s baseball action, including viewing options.

Kansas City Royals vs. Oakland Athletics odds and betting lines

MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Friday at 3:16 PM ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub.

• Favorite: Royals (-200, bet $200 to win $100)
• Underdog: Athletics (+166, bet $100 to win $166)
• Over/under: 8.5

Royals vs. Athletics: Live streaming info & game time

• Game Day: Friday, May 17, 2024
• Game Time: 7:40 PM ET
• Stadium: Kauffman Stadium
• TV Channel: Bally Sports
• Live Stream: Fubo (Watch for free)

Royals stats and trends

Royals betting records

• The Royals have entered the game as favorites 15 times this season and won 11, or 73.3%, of those games.
• Kansas City has played as favorites of -200 or more once this season and won that game.
• The sportsbooks’ moneyline implies a 66.7% chance of a victory for the Royals.
• Games involving Kansas City have gone over the total set by oddsmakers in 16 of 45 chances this season.
• The Royals are 26-19-0 against the spread in their 45 chances this season.

Cole Ragans (Royals probable starter)

• Ragans gets the start for the Royals, his 10th of the season. He is 2-3 with a 4.22 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings pitched.
• The lefty’s last appearance came on Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels, when he threw 6 1/3 innings, surrendering seven earned runs while giving up eight hits.
• In nine games this season, the 26-year-old has amassed an ERA of 4.22, with 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings. Opponents are batting .247 against him.
• Ragans has five quality starts under his belt this year.
• Ragans will try to continue a five-game streak of going five or more innings (he’s averaging 5.4 frames per appearance).
• He has had two appearances this season in which he kept his opponents to zero earned runs.
• He will take the mound against an Athletics team that is batting .218 as a unit (29th in MLB). It is also slugging a collective .377 (18th in MLB) with 55 total home runs (fourth in MLB).
• The 26-year-old ranks 63rd in ERA (4.22), 57th in WHIP (1.286), and 11th in K/9 (10.5) among qualifying pitchers in MLB play this season.

Royals batting stats

• The Royals rank 20th in Major League Baseball with 41 home runs.
• Hitters for Kansas City have combined for a team rank of 16th in the majors with a .385 team slugging percentage.
• The Royals have a team batting average of .239 this season, which ranks 15th among MLB teams.
• Kansas City has scored 202 runs (4.5 per game) this season, which ranks 11th in MLB.
• The Royals have an OBP of .302 this season, which ranks 23rd in MLB.
• Kansas City ranks third in MLB in strikeouts per game with an average of 7.0 whiffs per contest.

Athletics stats and trends

Athletics betting records

• The Athletics have come away with 14 wins in the 40 contests they have been listed as the underdogs in this season.
• Oakland has a mark of 8-6 in contests where oddsmakers favor it by +166 or worse on the moneyline.
• The Athletics have an implied victory probability of 37.6% according to the moneyline set for this matchup.
• Oakland and its opponents have hit the over in 22 of its 46 games with a total set by oddsmakers this season.
• The Athletics have posted a record of 24-22-0 against the spread this season.

Mitch Spence (Athletics probable starter)

• Spence takes the mound for his first start of the season for the Athletics.
• The right-hander is making his MLB debut at 26 years old.
• Opposing hitters have compiled a batting average of .231 against him this season. He has a 4.26 ERA and 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings over his 11 games.
• The Royals rank 11th in runs scored in the league (202) this season and are batting .239 while hitting 41 home runs (20th in the league).

Athletics batting stats

• The Athletics are fourth in baseball with 55 total home runs.
• So far this year, Oakland ranks 18th in baseball with a .377 slugging percentage.
• The Athletics rank 29th in the majors with a .218 batting average.
• Averaging 3.7 runs per game (171 total), Oakland is the 21st-highest scoring team in the majors.
• The Athletics rank 28th in the majors with a .294 on-base percentage.

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