Kansas City @ Baltimore preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 25, 2014 ) Kansas City 5, Baltimore 0

The Kansas City Royals split their first 22 games of the season and try to continue a unique trend when they visit the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday in the second contest of a three-game series. Kansas City is 11-0 when scoring four or more runs following Friday's 5-0 victory and 0-11 when held to three or fewer runs. Baltimore lost more than a game as first baseman Chris Davis, who led the American League with 53 home runs in 2013, left in obvious discomfort with a strained left oblique.

The Royals on Friday got a boost from rookie Yordano Ventura, who struck out eight in eight innings and set the tone early by hitting Nelson Cruz with a pitch in the first inning. Cruz went 0-for-3 and had his seven-game RBI streak halted after recording four home runs and driving in 16 during that span. Kansas City's Jeremy Guthrie is coming off his first April loss since 2012 and opposes Wei-Yin Chen, who has won three straight starts and faces a team outside the AL East for the first time in 2014.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FSN Kansas City, MASN (Baltimore)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Jeremy Guthrie (2-1, 4.68 ERA) vs. Orioles LH Wei-Yin Chen (3-1, 4.91)

Guthrie was 6-0 in his previous nine starts in April before yielding four runs and 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings of a 4-3 loss at Cleveland on Monday. The 35-year-old Roseburg, Ore., native is familiar pitching at Camden Yards (23-34, 4.21 ERA), with the bulk of the work coming from 2007-11 when he was 47-65 with the Orioles. Guthrie won his only two outings against Baltimore - both being quality starts in 2013, and has fared well against Cruz (4-for-19).

Chen has recorded victories at Boston and New York, and against Tampa Bay while also absorbing a loss to the Red Sox. The 28-year-old Taiwan native yielded three runs, four hits and three walks while striking out five in five innings in a 7-6 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Monday. Billy Butler (7-for-12) and Eric Hosmer (5-for-11) each have two homers and four RBIs against Chen, who is 0-1 with a 5.18 ERA in four starts against Kansas City.

WALK-OFFS

1. Davis, who is hitting .250 with two home runs and 13 RBIs, is expected to be placed on the disabled list Saturday.

2. The Royals were batting .160 with runners in scoring position on the road before going 5-for-15 in such situations Friday.

3. Baltimore 3B Manny Machado, who has not played this season because of a knee injury, went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a triple at Class A Frederick on Friday in his first rehab game.

PREDICTION: Orioles 3, Royals 2