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A's vie for elusive series win in tilt with Royals

Jun 16, 2011 - 2:53 PM (Sports Network) - They certainly didn't light up the scoreboard, but a solid effort on the mound on Wednesday has the Oakland Athletics in position to capture their first series in nearly three weeks and first under new manager Bob Melvin.

Gio Gonzalez will try to do just that, as well as end his personal losing streak, when he takes the hill for Oakland in today's rubber match of a three- game series with the Kansas City Royals at the Coliseum.

The Athletics lost for the 13th time in 14 games and fell to 1-4 under Melvin when they dropped Tuesday's opener, but they slipped by the Royals last night with a 2-1 victory.

Cliff Pennington and Daric Barton each drove in a run in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, while Josh Outman threw seven scoreless frames of four- hit ball to snap Oakland's three-game slide. Andrew Bailey pitched a spotless ninth for his second save of the season.

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

With a victory today, the A's can claim their first series win since sweeping a three-game set from the Orioles from May 27-29. They have lost each of their past four series.

Alex Gordon made things interesting for the Royals with an RBI single in the eighth inning, but Kansas City ended up with its second loss in six games since a 4-14 stretch.

Luke Hochevar was the hard-luck loser after giving up only two runs on five hits with a pair of walks in seven frames.

"I still need to get better with runners in scoring position," said Hochevar afterward. "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 [Wednesday]."

Oakland will look for Gonzalez to get on track this afternoon after the southpaw lost his third straight start on Saturday. He battled control problems in the setback to the White Sox, yielding three runs -- two earned -- on five hits, a career-high seven walks and two wild pitches over 5 1/3 frames.

"He didn't have his best command but he certainly battled out there," said Melvin about Gonzalez. "He made pitches when he had to."

Gonzalez, 25, fell to 5-5 with a 2.67 earned run average in 13 starts this season and evened his career mark against the Royals with a win on May 6. He gave up two runs over seven innings, moving to 2-2 with a 6.39 ERA in five starts against Kansas City.

It is unknown if Gonzalez will have Coco Crisp patrolling the outfield behind him after the center fielder was held out of last night's game due to a bruised right heel.

"He's a pretty important guy for us," Melvin told Oakland's website. "So hopefully, with the day game [Thursday], he'll play."

Jeff Francis will look to get on a roll on the road when he goes for the Royals today.

Francis picked up his first win away from Kansas City on Friday versus the Angels, allowing two runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings. The veteran lefty pitched at least six innings for a seventh straight outing and improved to 1-3 with a 6.03 ERA in six road starts.

"Jeff threw the ball great," Royals manager Ned Yost said of that game. "He changed speeds effectively. He did a great job."

The 30-year-old Francis also moved to 3-6 with a 4.40 ERA in 14 starts this season and faced the A's for the first time in his career on May 8. He took a loss, though, giving up three runs -- two earned -- over 6 1/3 frames of a 5-2 decision.

The Athletics did win two of three at Kansas City from May 6-8 and have won 10 of the past 15 meetings in the series. Oakland has won seven of its past 10 at home versus the Royals as well.