Today at 2:10 p.m. ET the Oakland Athetics (73-47) and Kansas City Royals (65-54) clash at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City for the fourth and final game of their series. The game can be live streamed for free here. Oakland fans can hear all of the action on 95.7 The Game while Kansas City can do the same on KCSP 610.
Oakland continues a seven-game road trip it is 1-2 on while Kansas City closes out a seven-game homestand it currently has a 5-1 record on The Royals defeated the Athletics on Monday (3-2) and blanked them Wednesday (3-0) while the Athletics picked up a victory on Tuesday with an 11-3 triumph.
Both of these teams enter Thursday atop their respective divisions as Oakland has the best record in baseball and leads the American League West with a 2.5 game led over the Los Angeles Angels while Kansas City leads the AL Central by a half-game over the Detroit Tigers.
Jeff Samardzija (3-1 3.08 ERA with the A's, 5-8, 2.91 ERA overall) takes the mound for the Athletics while the Royals counter with James Shields, who is 11-6 with a 3.25 ERA.
The Royals feel good after winning eight straight games to overtake the Tigers for first place in the division and now seek their seventh straight series win.
"When you wake up this late in the season in first place, you wake up feeling better, you wake up with more energy, you wake up with more life, you come into the ballpark feeling better on where you're at," manager Ned Yost said per MLB.com.
Now, Kansas City turns to Shields, who is coming off of an outing against the San Francisco Giants where he allowed four hits and one walk in nine innings in a 5-0 victory that also included five strikeouts.
He'll face an Oakland lineup that is flanked by Josh Donaldson. The third baseman leads the team with 25 homers and a .256 batting average while he ranks third in the AL with 78 runs scored and tied for fourth with 84 RBI.
Athletics infielder Jed Lowrie, who is hitting .238 with five homers and 42 RBI, is playing with a fractured right index finger that the team doesn't deem to be too serious.
"It might mean a day off a little more frequently, but he's able to play with it," manager Bob Melvin told MLB.com.
Samardzija, who is coming off of collecting his third win with the A's on Saturday by allowing just two runs in six innings, has never faced the Royals before.
Samardzija will face a Royals lineup that is known to steal as centerfielder Jarrod Dyson (26) and shortstop Alcides Escobar (24) rank fourth and fifth in the AL respectively in stolen bases. Alex Gordon leads Kansas City in batting average (.278) and RBI (53) while third baseman Mike Moustakas and catcher Salvador Perez each pace the team with 14 homers.
Two AL division leaders close out their four-game set when the Athletics and Royals take the field this afternoon at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
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