Basketball Betting

Improving Royals try to finish off sweep of Mariners

Baseball Betting Lines

07/07/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals have been playing very well lately and are aiming for their first road sweep of the Seattle Mariners since the 1995 campaign tonight in the finale of a three-game series at Safeco Field.

The last time the Royals recorded a three-game sweep in the Emerald City was June 12-14, 1995. They have won five of six and nine of their last 12 games, including last night's 3-2 victory in the second portion of this set. Wilson Betemit finished 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI and Billy Butler recorded two hits for Kansas City, which is 4-1 on a nine-game road trip.

Royals starter Zack Greinke was dominant through seven innings of work, allowing one unearned run and two hits with nine strikeouts and two walks. Blake Wood was reached for a run in the eighth and All-Star closer Joakim Soria posted his 24th save with two K's in the ninth.

"The guys are picking each other up in situations," said Royals manager Ned Yost. "The pitching's holding the offense down, our offense is scoring enough runs for us to win ball games, so it's a nice team affair all the way around."

Kansas City has won four consecutive series and looks to complete the sweep with Kyle Davies on the hill Wednesday. Davies hasn't been pitching so well lately, as evidenced by his 0-3 mark and 6.89 ERA in his last six starts. The Royals have gone 2-4 over that stretch.

Davies didn't factor in the outcome of last Friday's 2-1 win at the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim despite throwing 7 2/3 effective innings of one-run ball. The right-hander is 3-2 in nine road starts in 2010 and 4-6 overall in 16 trips to the mound. He beat Seattle with six shutout innings back on April 26 and is 3-1 in five career starts against the Mariners.

Seattle has lost two straight and five of six games this month. In last night's one-run loss to the Royals, Ryan Rowland-Smith suffered the hard-luck defeat and fell to 1-8 on the season after permitting three runs and seven hits in seven innings.

"We keep talking about improving," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said about Rowland-Smith. "The last three outings he's been getting better and better, especially [Tuesday]."

Jack Wilson and Chone Figgins each had an RBI for the Mariners, who are last in the AL West and winless so far on a seven-game homestand.

Doug Fister will have the honor of trying to get Seattle off the schneid when he toes the rubber Wednesday night. Much like Davies, Fister has been struggling to the tune of an 0-3 mark and 5.46 ERA in his last five starts. Fister was battered by Detroit his last time out in a 7-1 loss last Friday, when he yielded five runs over 4 2/3 innings of work.

Fister, a right-hander, is 3-4 with a 3.22 earned run average in 12 starts this season and will face Kansas City for a second time in his career. He faced the Royals in an 8-4 loss on August 27 of last season and gave up five runs in six frames to absorb the defeat.

Seattle won two of three meetings with Kansas City from April 26-28 of this season.