• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Athletics-Royals Preview

Jul 15, 2010 - 10:24 PM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Oakland (43-46) at Kansas City (39-49), 8:10 p.m. EDT

Although the Kansas City Royals slumped into the All-Star break, they're still playing significantly better than earlier this year.

Zack Greinke's return to the rotation should only help.

Scratched from his last start, Greinke looks to win his fifth straight decision Friday night against the Oakland Athletics as they face the Royals for the first time this season.

After opening 12-23 under manager Trey Hillman, Kansas City is 27-26 since Ned Yost took over on May 14. The Royals (39-49) had won 10 of 13 before getting swept in a three-game series last weekend to AL Central-leading Chicago. Kansas City was outscored 28-8 - including 15-5 in Sunday's finale.

Still, the team still went into the break with a sense of optimism.

"We're getting more confident, we're just getting to know how Ned is coaching us and managing us in different situations," David DeJesus told the Royals' official website. "And the more we get to play on the field with him and know him better, I think the better our team is going to play."

DeJesus leads the Royals in hitting at .326, and the team ranks first in the majors with a .282 batting average.

Greinke (5-8, 3.71 ERA) will be taking the hill on nine days rest. The right-hander was slated to start Sunday, but was replaced for precautionary reasons because of soreness in his back right shoulder.

He hasn't pitched since allowing an unearned run and two hits while striking out nine in seven innings of a 3-2 win in Seattle on July 6.

Though he hasn't duplicated his AL Cy Young Award-winning season from 2009, Greinke is 4-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his last five starts after going 1-8 with a 4.05 ERA in his first 13.

Greinke also is 4-0 with a 2.98 ERA in seven career starts against Oakland.

While the Royals have improved, Oakland (43-46) has struggled in recent weeks.

The A's were 28-24 and atop the AL West on May 31, but have lost 22 of 37 since to drop well behind first-place Texas. They managed to take two of three from the Angels last weekend, including a 5-2 win Sunday.

Injuries have played a big role in Oakland's struggles, as three pitchers in the team's original rotation are on the disabled list. While Justin Duchscherer (left hip) is out of the year, Dallas Braden (left elbow soreness) and Brett Anderson (left elbow inflammation) are expected to return shortly.

Oakland also was without outfielder Coco Crisp for 70 games, catcher Kurt Suzuki for three weeks and second baseman Mark Ellis for a month during the first half.

"In the second half, hopefully we'll be able to keep everybody together and everybody healthy," Crisp said. "We stand a good chance of making a push to the end and we'll see what happens."

The A's will go with the inconsistent Gio Gonzalez in the opener. In a 6-2 loss to the New York Yankees last Wednesday, Gonzalez (7-6, 3.79) allowed five runs, eight hits and five walks in four innings.

In 10 starts since May 22, the left-hander is 3-3 with a 3.58 ERA. In the three losses, though, his ERA ballooned to 9.42.

This will be his first start against the Royals since yielding five runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings of an 8-5 loss on Aug. 31.

Oakland was 6-2 against Kansas City last year, taking two of three at Kauffman Stadium.