ARCHIVE April 29, 2026
April 29, 2026 · AL West

Kansas City Royals vs Oakland Athletics

April 29, 2026Sutter Health ParkClear 80°F · 5 mph, R To L
AWAY
Kansas City Royals
12-18
2
vs
HOME
Oakland Athletics
16-14
5

Starting pitchers

AWAY · KC
Michael Wacha
Michael Wacha
IP 5
HOME · ATH
Luis Severino
Luis Severino
IP 7

Lineups

AWAY · KC
  1. 1 Maikel Garcia 3B
  2. 2 Bobby Witt Jr. SS
  3. 3 Carter Jensen C
  4. 4 Salvador Perez 1B
  5. 5 Michael Massey 2B
  6. 6 Isaac Collins LF
  7. 7 Jac Caglianone DH
  8. 8 Lane Thomas RF
  9. 9 Kyle Isbel CF
HOME · ATH
  1. 1 Nick Kurtz 1B
  2. 2 Shea Langeliers C
  3. 3 Carlos Cortes LF
  4. 4 Brent Rooker DH
  5. 5 Jacob Wilson SS
  6. 6 Jeff McNeil 2B
  7. 7 Zack Gelof CF
  8. 8 Lawrence Butler RF
  9. 9 Darell Hernaiz 3B

Box score

  123456789 R
KC 100000001 2
ATH 010301000 5

Manager comparison

Both managers grade C / C- entering this matchup.

AWAY · KC
Matt Quatraro
C Lineup 1.9 R Bunts 1.1 R IBBs 0.8 R
HOME · ATH
Mark Kotsay
C- Lineup 2.6 R Bunts 1.1 R IBBs 1.1 R

Recent form

AWAY · KC
6-4 W1 +1 run diff
WLLWWWWWLL
HOME · ATH
5-5 W2 -1 run diff
WWLLWLLWWL

Season series: 1-2 with KC listed first across 3 prior meetings.

Tactical analysis

RunsLeft separates manager decisions from player execution from game variance. Each card below is the same three-number framework that drives the share cards on the SPA replay page.

AWAY · Kansas City Royals
  • Manager lineup cost +0.07 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.00 vs actual lineup 3.93
  • Player execution −1.93 R/G Players fell 1.93 short of the lineup's 3.93 projection (scored 2)
  • Game variance −2.00 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Garcia 0-for-4 batting 1st

HOME · Oakland Athletics
  • Manager lineup cost +0.08 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 3.69 vs actual lineup 3.61
  • Player execution +1.39 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 3.61 projection by 1.39 (scored 5)
  • Game variance +1.31 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Butler HR from the 8-hole

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 4.0 – 3.7 — actual was 2 – 5.

Keep reading

How RunsLeft analyzes games

Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. Tactical analysis comes from a per-game Monte Carlo: 10,000 simulated games against the opposing starter's ERA, both for the actual lineup the manager wrote and for the optimal arrangement of those nine players. The three numbers — manager cost, player execution, game variance — separate which part of the result was the lineup, the players, or the dice.

Read the full methodology.