The Kansas City Royals will look to grab a road win when they take on the Athletics in Oakland at Overstock.com Coliseum on Thursday in baseball odds action.

Oakland sends Gio Gonzalez out against Jeff Francis for the Royals in this game. Gonzalez is 5-5 with a 2.67 ERA on the season, while Francis is 3-6 on the year and has a 4.40 ERA.



View Kansas City vs Oakland Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
On the Sportsbook MLB line for this matchup, Oakland sat as -155 favorites. The total was set at 7.5.

Power Rankings:
According to new MLB Power Rankings here, it's the American League No. 4-ranked Athletics and the American League No. 12-rated Royals in this matchup.



How They Match Up:
Offensively, the game matches up Oakland's No. 14 ranked American League offense (3.6 runs per game) against a Royals defense and pitching staff that sits at No. 14 in the American League at 5 runs allowed per game. The Athletics have been averaging 8 hits per game, less than the Royals have managed so far this season (9.1 hits on average).

Pitching and defensive stats are important baseball handicapping factors and Oakland has the American League's No. 3-ranked defense. In the other dugout, the Royals own the American League's No. 14 mark in runs allowed.

The Royals were a 2-1 loser in their most recent outing on the road against the Athletics. That made Sportsbooks of bettors who got Oakland at -145 on the moneyline, while the total score (3) was good news for UNDER bettors. Kansas City didn't get the job done in their last match, falling 2-1 to Oakland on Wednesday at Overstock.com Coliseum.




Kansas City Royals Trends:
When playing on Thursday are 4-6
Before playing St. Louis are 4-6
After playing Oakland are 4-6
After a loss are 4-6

Oakland Athletics Trends:
When playing on Thursday are 6-4
Before playing San Francisco are 3-7
After playing Kansas City are 5-5
After a win are 4-6

A few Royals at Athletics trends to consider:
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Kansas City's last 5 games when playing Oakland
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Kansas City's last 5 games when playing on the road against Oakland
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Kansas City's last 10 games on the road
Kansas City is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Oakland's last 5 games when playing Kansas City
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Oakland's last 5 games when playing at home against Kansas City
Oakland is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games when playing at home against Kansas City
Oakland is 15-7 SU in its last 22 games when playing Kansas City


Next up:
Kansas City at St. Louis, Friday, June 17
Oakland home to San Francisco, Friday, June 17