Athletics vs. Royals (June 24): Will Greinke finally get his first win of 2022?

Tonight, Kansas City plays host to the series opener between two of MLB’s worst teams, as the Royals host the Oakland Athletics.

Yesterday could not have been more agonizing for the A’s, as they suffered a sweep at the hands of the Seattle Mariners.

Frankie Montas pitched 7.2 no-hit innings before Adam Frazier broke up his no-no in the top of the eighth. But the A’s were still on track for a 1-0 win when things completely unraveled in the top of the ninth, with four walks and two A.J. Puk wild pitches helped the Mariners push across two runs to take the lead on the way to a 2-1 win.

Just as little has gone right for Oakland this season, little has gone right for Kansas City as well. But the Royals enter this series with back-to-back series wins, including one in Oakland just this past weekend.

Oakland Athletics vs. Kansas City Royals Betting Odds and Matchup Information

Matchup Information

• Matchup: Oakland Athletics (23-48, 15-20 away, 5th in the AL West) vs. Kansas City Royals (25-43, 12-21 home, 5th in the AL Central)
• Venue & Location: Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, Missouri)
• Date: Friday, June 24, 2022
• Game Time: 8:10 p.m. Eastern Time (7:10 p.m. local time)
• TV Broadcast/Streaming Info: NBC Sports California (A’s), Bally Sports Kansas City (Royals), MLB Extra Innings/MLB.TV (subscription packages)

A’s vs. Royals Pitching Matchup

• Oakland Athletics: Cole Irvin (2022: 11 starts, 1-4, 3.14 ERA, 63 IP, 43 K/15 BB)
• Kansas City Royals: Zack Greinke (2022: 10 starts, 0-4, 5.05 ERA, 51.2 IP, 25 K/10 BB)

A’s vs. Royals Odds

Game odds are via BetOnline. Odds from our other top reviewed and recommended online sportsbooks may also be mentioned in this article.

Moneyline

• Oakland Athletics +116
• Kansas City Royals -136

Over/Under

• OVER 9 (-110)
• UNDER 9 (-110)

Run Line

• Oakland Athletics +1.5 (-170)
• Kansas City Royals -1.5 (+140)

Will Greinke Mark His Return with a Win Over the Athletics?

Greinke will make his first start since May 29, as he spent most of this month on the injured list due to an elbow injury.

Prior to the injury, the future Hall of Famer was not having the best of times in his return to Kansas City. He still has yet to pick up a win, and in his two starts before he was placed on the IL, he allowed 12 runs, 11 hits, six walks, and five homers.

But Greinke has a 2.49 ERA in four home starts this season, compared to a 6.90 ERA in six road starts. And tonight, he gets to go up against a team that is averaging just a little more than three runs per game.

In last weekend’s head-to-head matchup in Oakland, runs were at a premium for both sides.

The Athletics scored four runs and shut out the Royals on Saturday but scored only one run in the other two games. The Royals, meanwhile, scored a total of seven runs in the series.

For the season, Oakland has score two or fewer runs more times (36) than they have been able to score three or more runs (35). When a team is performing this badly at the plate, fading feels like the only reasonable option, even against another bad team.

Oakland Athletics vs. Kansas City Royals Prediction and Best Bets

A’s vs. Royals Prediction: Royals to win

A’s vs. Royals Best Bets: Royals ML (-136 at BetOnline & MyBookie) & A’s/Royals UNDER 9 (-110 at BetOnline)

There may well be some rust to shake off, but the Athletics makes for a pretty solid opponent against whom to make your return from a stint on the injury line.

Irvin has given up more than three runs only twice in his 11 starts this season, but when Oakland’s offense is finding it hard to score most days, his margin for error is pretty minimal, as evidenced by the 3-8 record that the A’s in his starts. As it happens, the last win–and his last win–was exactly two months ago today against the Texas Rangers.

Unfortunately, he’ll have to wait a bit longer to get back into the win column, while Greinke will finally register his first win in his second stint with the Royals.

And while anything can certainly happen tonight, when neither of these teams is doing a very good job of scoring runs on a consistent basis, the total for this feels at least a run too high. For what it’s worth, the under is 5-4 when the Royals have been a home favorite and 18-15-2 when the A’s have been a road dog.

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