Royals 1 - 2 Athletics
Final
  for this game

A's edge Royals

Jun 16, 2011 - 6:00 AM

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Oakland, CA (Sports Network) - Josh Outman pitched seven scoreless frames, and Oakland mustered just enough offense to edge Kansas City, 2-1, in the middle contest of a three-game set at the Coliseum.

Outman (2-1) painted the corners and kept the Royals off balance, giving up just four hits and two walks. Andrew Bailey pitched a spotless ninth for his second save, as the A's snapped a three-game skid.

"To get out there and get into the seventh inning, so we can use that strong backend of the bullpen and give those other guys some well-deserved rest, it's always good for the team," Outman said about his performance.

Luke Hochevar (4-7) was the hard-luck loser after giving up only two runs on five hits with a pair of walks in seven frames. Alex Gordon drove in the lone run for the Royals, who saw their brief two-game winning streak come to an end.

"I still need to get better with runners in scoring position. It just comes down to pitch quality and making quality pitches when I need to make them. I still need to get better at that and it burnt me tonight," said Hochevar.

Neither team mustered any offense until the home sixth, as back-to-back singles by Landon Powell and Jemile Weeks set the stage. After a force out, Weeks stole third and scored on Cliff Pennington's single.

The A's played small ball in the seventh, as Ryan Sweeney singled to start the frame, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored when Daric Barton sliced a single the opposite way into left-center field.

Kansas City finally pushed across a run on Gordon's RBI single in the eighth, but didn't threaten against Bailey in the ninth.

Game Notes

Kansas City's Melky Cabrera and Alcides Escobar had two and three hits, respectively. Escobar now has six hits in the series...Outman lowered his earned run average to 3.14. The southpaw improved to 2-0 lifetime against the Royals...Hochevar dropped to 1-4 on the road this season.






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