A key battle on the MLB odds menu sees visiting Oakland duelling Kansas City on Saturday at Kauffman Stadium.

Brandon McCarthy gets the ball in front of a hostile crowd for the Athletics on this day; he's 1-2 on the season. The Royals, meanwhile, will counter with Luke Hochevar, who will be looking to improve on his 3-3 mark.



View Oakland vs Kansas City Odds and Stats.

Betting Line:
Sportsbooks had set the Royals as -110 favorites on the Sportsbook moneyline for this contest. The over under opened at 8.5 for bettors hoping to turn a profit on totals.

Power Rankings:
This game puts the Royals, most recently No. 8 in the American League Odds Shark MLB Power Rankings, up against the Athletics, who rate an American League No. 12 in the latest survey.



How They Match Up:
Rating these teams in several key categories is important for handicappers and Kansas City has the American League's No. 1-rated offensive output, at 9.4 hits per game. The Athletics average 8 hits per game, good for No. 10 on the American League list.

Comparing defensive stats, Oakland owns the American League's No. 1-rated road mark, allowing 3.1 runs per game on the highway. Kansas City, on the other hand, rates No. 2 in scoring at home.

The Athletics were a 3-2 Sportsbook in their most recent outing on the road against the Royals. That made Sportsbooks of bettors who got Oakland at -122 on the moneyline, while the total score (5) was good news for UNDER bettors. Oakland rolled to a 3-2 win against Kansas City on Friday, as Gio Gonzalez and the Athletics' bats led the team to victory at Kauffman Stadium.




Oakland Athletics Trends:
When playing on Saturday are 5-5
Before playing Kansas City are 5-5
After playing Kansas City are 4-6
After a win are 5-5

Kansas City Royals Trends:
When playing on Saturday are 5-5
Before playing Oakland are 4-6
After playing Oakland are 4-6
After a loss are 4-6

A few Athletics at Royals trends to consider:
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Oakland's last 5 games
Oakland is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Kansas City
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Oakland's last 12 games when playing on the road against Kansas City
Oakland is 8-3 SU in its last 11 games when playing Kansas City
Kansas City is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Kansas City's last 12 games when playing at home against Oakland
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Kansas City's last 11 games
Kansas City is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games


Next up:
Oakland at Kansas City, Sunday, May 8