(photo: KellyK/flickr)

The A’s end their road trip with a 3-game series against the Kansas City Royals (49-65).  The A’s last faced the Royals in June and lost 2 out of 3 in Kauffman Stadium.

Tuesday 5:10 PM PST: (RHP) Jarrod Parker (7-6) Vs (RHP) Jeremy Guthrie (1-3)

• Jarrod Parker last pitched over a week ago against the Anaheim Angels.  He lasted 6.2 innings and allowed 4 runs on 9 hits, 1 walk and struck out 6.  This will be Parker’s first career start against the Kansas City Royals.
• Jeremy Guthrie is coming off one of his best starts, if not his best start of the season.  He threw 8 shut out innings against the Chicago White Sox and allowed 5 hits, walked none and struck out 6.  Guthrie faced the A’s once earlier this season when he was with the Colorado Rockies, he allowed 7 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks over 5 innings while striking out 5.

Wednesday 5:10 PM PST: (RHP) Brandon McCarthy (6-3) Vs (LHP) Will Smith (3-4)

• Brandon McCarthy will be making his second start for the A’s since returning from the disabled list.  In his last start against the Chicago White Sox he lasted 6 innings and allowed 6 hits, 3 runs, walked 1 and struck out 4.  McCarthy has faced the Royals twice this season and has allowed 14 hits, 4 runs, 4 walks while striking out 6 over 12 innings.
• Will Smith had a nice outing against the Baltimore Orioles in his last start.  Over 7 innings he allowed 6 hits, 2 runs, walked 3 and struck out 5.  Will Smith will be making his first career start against the A’s on Wednesday.

Thursday 5:10 PM PST: (RHP) Dan Straily (0-0) Vs (RHP) Luke Hochevar (7-10)

• Dan Straily was shaky in his last outing, allowing 4 home runs to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  Over 4.2 innings he allowed 8 hits, 5 runs, walked 1 and struck out 5.  This will be Straily’s first career start against the Kansas City Royals.
• Luke Hochevar was not great in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles.  Over 5.1 innings he allowed 7 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2.  He has once this season and allowed 5 hits, 6 runs, 3 walks and struck out 3 over 4.2 innings.

Keys to Success:

The two rookies, Jarrod Parker and Dan Straily, are going to have to have a couple of bounce back starts for the A’s in order for them to have any success in this series.  Scoring runs early would be helpful, especially if the two are still a little off.