The Oakland Athletics will look to grab a road win when they take on the Royals in Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday in baseball odds action.

Brandon McCarthy, with a record of 3-3 on the season, gets the ball for the Athletics, while the Royals trot Luke Hochevar to the mound in this one. He is 3-5 so far in 2012.



View Oakland vs Kansas City Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
Baseball odds makers opened the Royals as -115 moneyline favorites in this matchup. Over under bettors saw the number open at 8.

Power Rankings:
The MLB Power Rankings show a disparity between these teams, with the Royals rated this week at No. 9 and the Athletics sitting at No. 13.



How They Match Up:
Scoring stats point to some edges in this matchup. The game features Kansas City's American League No. 11-ranked scoring average of 4 runs per game, against a Athletics offense rated No. 14 and scoring 3.2 runs per game in the league. The Royals have averaged 9.1 hits per game to date this season, more than the Athletics hitters have managed (6.9 per nine innings).

Kansas City owns the American League's No. 9 defense, allowing 4.4 men per game to cross the plate. That contrasts with Oakland's American League No. 2-rated defense.

Oakland lost its last outing, a 2-0 result against the Royals on June 1. Bettors who backed the Royals at -138 on the moneyline won on the day, and the total score (2) sent UNDER bettors to the payout window. Oakland didn't plate a single run in their last outing, shut down by Felipe Paulino in a losing cause, 2-0, against Kansas City on Friday.




Oakland Athletics Trends:
When playing on Saturday are 6-4
Before playing Kansas City are 3-7
After playing Kansas City are 7-3
After a loss are 1-9

Kansas City Royals Trends:
When playing on Saturday are 3-7
Before playing Oakland are 7-3
After playing Oakland are 3-7
After a win are 6-4

A few Athletics at Royals trends to consider:
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Oakland's last 5 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 on the road against Kansas City
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Oakland's last 6 games on the road
Kansas City is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
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 at home against Oakland
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Kansas City's last 7 games at home


Next up:
Oakland at Kansas City, Sunday, June 3