Kansas City Royals (86-76, second in the AL Central during the regular season) vs. Baltimore Orioles (91-71, second in the AL East during the regular season)
Baltimore; Tuesday, 4:08 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Cole Ragans (11-9, 3.14 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 223 strikeouts); Orioles: Corbin Burnes (15-9, 2.92 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 181 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Orioles -151, Royals +128; over/under is 6 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Baltimore Orioles square off against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series.
Baltimore has a 91-71 record overall and a 44-37 record at home. The Orioles have the third-ranked team batting average in the AL at .250.
Kansas City has an 86-76 record overall and a 41-40 record on the road. Royals hitters are batting a collective .248, the eighth-best team batting average in MLB play.
The matchup Tuesday is the seventh time these teams match up this season. The Orioles have a 4-2 advantage in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Anthony Santander ranks second on the Orioles with 71 extra base hits (25 doubles, two triples and 44 home runs). Colton Cowser is 9-for-39 with a double, four home runs and seven RBI over the past 10 games.
Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals with a .332 batting average, and has 45 doubles, 11 triples, 32 home runs, 57 walks and 109 RBI. Salvador Perez is 9-for-41 with two RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Orioles: 7-3, .284 batting average, 3.80 ERA, outscored opponents by 16 runs
Royals: 4-6, .170 batting average, 2.32 ERA, outscored by nine runs
INJURIES: Orioles: Burch Smith: 15-Day IL (groin), Grayson Rodriguez: 15-Day IL (lat), Jorge Mateo: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kyle Bradish: 60-Day IL (ucl sprain), Tyler Wells: 60-Day IL (elbow), John Means: 60-Day IL (elbow), Felix Bautista: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Royals: James McArthur: 15-Day IL (elbow), Chris Stratton: 15-Day IL (forearm), Will Smith: 15-Day IL (back), Hunter Harvey: 15-Day IL (back), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (biceps), Kyle Wright: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
