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A's beat Royals in series finale

May 8, 2011 - 11:16 PM Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) - Kevin Kouzmanoff and Kurt Suzuki had solo home runs to help Oakland beat Kansas City, 5-2, in the finale of a three-game set.

Tyson Ross (2-2) pitched six innings, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks in a winning effort. He also struck out four in the A's, who have won seven of their last 11 games.

Jeff Francis (0-4) took the loss in 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs -- two earned -- on eight hits and a walk in Kansas City's third setback in five games.

"You're always trying to find a delivery you can repeat and you can have good command. The past two outings I had made some mistakes that I paid for, but for the most part the ball's going where I need it to," said Francis. "It's just a matter of making a good pitch when you need to and you've got runners on. I did that more today than I have the last two times."

Conor Jackson hit a single that scored Coco Crisp after he reached base on a throwing error to lead off the game and moved to third on a Daric Barton double. Josh Willingham followed with a fielder's choice that brought home Barton to give the A's an early two-run advantage.

Kouzmanoff hit a solo homer in the sixth to extend the A's lead.

"I remember when I was with San Diego and he [Francis] was with Colorado, I remember facing him quite a bit. I had some success and there were other times where he just made me feel stupid. Just like any other pitcher, I guess. Sometimes you feel good, sometimes you don't," said Kouzmanoff about Francis.

Kansas City fought back in the home sixth when Melky Cabrera led off with a single and advanced to second on Ross' throwing error. He then moved to third on a groundout by Alex Gordon before being knocked in by an Eric Hosmer double. Mitch Maier followed two batters later with an RBI single to make the score 3-2.

But the A's added a run in the eighth on a Crisp single off of reliever Tim Collins, and another on Suzuki's solo shot off of Louis Coleman in the ninth to increase their cushion to 5-2.

Brian Fuentes pitched a perfect ninth for his ninth save of the season.

Game Notes

Hosmer's run-scoring double in the sixth was the first RBI of his career...Kansas City is now 15-8 at home and 3-8 on the road...David DeJesus needs three hits to reach 1,000 for his career.