The Toronto Blue Jays host the Kansas City Royals at 7:07 p.m. ET on Thursday, with both teams hoping to win the series. Spencer Arrighetti (7-6, 4.73 ERA) will start for the Blue Jays, who are 65-69 this season and fifth in the AL East. Noah Cameron (8-8, 4.02 ERA) is the expected starter for the Royals, who are 59-75 and fifth in the AL Central.

How to watch Kansas City Royals vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Royals vs. Blue Jays odds

• Favorite Moneyline: Blue Jays -110
• Underdog Moneyline: Royals -110
• Total: 8.5
• Total Over Odds: +100
• Total Under Odds: -120

Injury reports

Blue Jays

Josh Smith: 10 Day IL (Hamstring), Luis Urias: 10 Day IL (Quadricep), Jonatan Clase: 10 Day IL (Foot), Shane Bieber: 15 Day IL (Back), Jameson Taillon: 15 Day IL (Forearm), Trey Yesavage: 15 Day IL (Knee), Cody Ponce: 60 Day IL (Knee), Anthony Santander: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Jake Bloss: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Bowden Francis: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Joe Mantiply: 60 Day IL (Knee), Addison Barger: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Yimi Garcia: 60 Day IL (Elbow), José Berrios: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Patrick Corbin: 60 Day IL (Shoulder)

Royals

Maikel Garcia: 10 Day IL (Hamstring), Tony Gonsolin: 15 Day IL (Elbow), Beck Way: 15 Day IL (Back), Jonathan India: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Cole Ragans: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Luinder Avila: 60 Day IL (Forearm), Alec Marsh: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Carlos Estévez: 60 Day IL (Foot), Nick Mears: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Stephen Kolek: 60 Day IL (Flexor), Connor Seabold: 60 Day IL (Lat), James McArthur: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Michael Massey: day-to-day (Head)

Stats to know

• Toronto’s Ernie Clement is slashing .282/.307/.398 this season with nine home runs, 43 RBIs and an OPS of .705. He has a 9.8% strikeout rate and a 3.4% walk rate in 522 plate appearances, and he has scored 54 total runs.
• In 503 plate appearances, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is hitting .262/.334/.353 with a .687 OPS and seven steals on 10 attempts. He has hit seven long balls, driven in 46 runs and scored 62 times.
• Bobby Witt Jr. has hit 16 home runs this season. He has also tallied 48 RBIs and has scored 72 runs. In 508 plate appearances, he has recorded a .288 BA, .366 OBP and .458 SLG with a 10.8% walk rate and a 17.7% strikeout rate. He has been effective on the base paths, recording 35 steals on 42 attempts.
• In 473 plate appearances, Jac Caglianone has hit 22 long balls, tallied 60 RBIs and scored 59 runs. He is batting .274/.326/.486 and has posted a 26.2% strikeout rate and a 6.1% walk rate.

This watch guide was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.

Betting/odds, ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

Photo: Jamie Squire, Ishika Samant, Scott Taetsch, Alika Jenner / Getty Images

The Atlanta Braves host the Los Angeles Dodgers at 7:15 p.m. ET on Thursday, a game featuring two of MLB’s most consistent batters. Michael Harris II has an average of .291 (10th in league) for the Braves, and Freddie Freeman is seventh at .301 for the Dodgers. Chris Sale (12-9, 2.20 ERA) will start for the Braves, who are 78-55 this season and first in the NL East. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-7, 2.61 ERA) is expected to start for the Dodgers, who are 80-53 and first in the NL West.

How to watch Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves

Dodgers vs. Braves odds

• Favorite Moneyline: Braves -128
• Underdog Moneyline: Dodgers +105
• Total: 6.5
• Total Over Odds: -110
• Total Under Odds: -110

Injury reports

Braves

Reynaldo López: 15 Day IL (Knee), Robert Suarez: 15 Day IL (Elbow), Spencer Strider: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Spencer Schwellenbach: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Joey Wentz: 60 Day IL (Knee), Joe Jimenez: 60 Day IL (Knee)

Dodgers

Dalton Rushing: 10 Day IL (Arm), Andy Pages: 10 Day IL (Hand), Edwin Díaz: 15 Day IL (Neck), Will Klein: 15 Day IL (Elbow), Justin Wrobleski: 15 Day IL (Forearm), Bobby Miller: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Gavin Stone: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Jake Cousins: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Blake Treinen: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Will Smith: 60 Day IL (Neck), Brusdar Graterol: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Kris Bubic: 60 Day IL (Elbow), Ben Casparius: 60 Day IL (Shoulder), Roki Sasaki: day-to-day (Hand)

Stats to know

• Atlanta’s Matt Olson has hit 37 home runs this season, which ranks 2nd in MLB. He has also tallied 78 RBIs (19th in MLB) and has scored 92 runs. In 579 plate appearances, he has recorded a .260 BA, .337 OBP and .538 SLG with a 10% walk rate and a 25.2% strikeout rate.
• In 568 plate appearances, Ozzie Albies has hit 20 long balls, tallied 67 RBIs and scored 74 runs. He is batting .255/.310/.418 and has posted a 14.1% strikeout rate and a 7% walk rate.
• Shohei Ohtani is hitting for a .288 BA, .388 OBP and .546 SLG with a 23.2% strikeout rate and a 13.5% walk rate. His OPS is .934, which ranks 2nd in MLB, and he has scored 86 runs. In 564 plate appearances, he has hit 30 home runs (9th in MLB) and driven in 80 runs (13th in MLB). Ohtani has recorded 10 steals on 13 attempts.
• In 555 plate appearances, Freeman has posted a 16.4% strikeout rate and a 10.3% walk rate while slashing .301/.373/.460 with 15 home runs, 61 RBIs and 65 runs scored.

This watch guide was created using technology provided by Data Skrive.

Betting/odds, ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

Photo: Jamie Squire, Ishika Samant, Scott Taetsch, Alika Jenner / Getty Images

“The Athletic Football Show” is previewing all 32 teams before the start of the 2026 NFL season. Below are select quotes from the show’s preview of the Cincinnati Bengals. The quotes are edited for clarity. You can watch the whole preview on YouTube and in the embedded video below, or listen to the full AFC North preview wherever you get your podcasts.

Robert Mays on what excites him most about the Bengals: I think this is potentially the most complete Bengals offense we have seen. They’ve never finished higher than sixth in EPA per play since Joe Burrow’s been there. Burrow has never finished in the top five in EPA per dropback ever. It’s the sacks. Even in the years they were really good, he’s taking 50 sacks in a season. They’ve always been right on the doorstep of being this overwhelming force. They’ve never quite gotten there because either they’re taking a decent amount of sacks or the run game just doesn’t have the oomph.

Last year, they were a really successful running team in the back half of the season. The offensive line, I think you can make an argument, is as good as it’s been since Burrow got there. You have two homegrown guys that you feel good about among that group for the first time ever, with Dylan Fairchild and Amarius Mims. The run game is higher quality and more consistent. I do think you can get to a place where you can convince yourself this is the best plan and collection of pieces we have seen for this team offensively, even including when they were going to AFC Championship Games and the Super Bowl.

Derrik Klassen on what he’s watching the first month of the season: How much of this offense really is new? How much of it is under center? Are they motioning guys a little bit more? Does the run game add some more stuff to it? When they got under center (last year), they actually could be explosive. When they were a shotgun run team, they really weren’t. They were pretty efficient, but they were not explosive. And when they got under center they had a 9.2 percent explosive run rate, which was top five in the NFL.

Part of that is, I think it was a change-up that teams just weren’t respecting or ready for because they did it at the second-lowest rate in the NFL. Teams that can go under center and run the ball, that is a little bit more of, ‘We are running on our terms and we get to decide how this goes.’ I have a little bit more reservations about their ability to actually get there and tie that into the passing game. I think it’s something that is necessary for them to get over the doorstep from consistently great to elite and actually defining offensive football in the NFL.

Dave Helman on what’s keeping him up at night: I think we’re going to know by Week 2 or Week 3 whether what they did on defense worked. What’s keeping me up at night is that we’ll know in September that it didn’t work and we’re doing the same (thing) all over again, hoping that the Bengals can score their way to the playoffs.

I like Boye Mafe for the contract that he got. I think Bryan Cook is an underrated signing. I even like Kyle Dugger. I thought he did some good stuff for Pittsburgh last year. I don’t think any of this holds up the way that it needs to if Dexter Lawrence isn’t exceptional. Holding him to the 2024 standard before he got hurt is crazy because he was on an unbelievable tear, but he needs to scratch that sort of level if this is going to work at all.

Subscribe to “The Athletic Football Show” on YouTube