Final
Athletics, Royals meet in rubber match
Jun 3, 2012 - 2:50 PMVideo
Oakland ran away with a 9-3 victory as Yoenis Cespedes went 3-for-5 with an RBI and scored twice on Saturday. The victory snapped a nine-game losing streak for the A's, who had been shut out in consecutive games before the victory.
The Athletics have an American League-worst .209 batting average, but that did not show on Saturday. Josh Reddick tripled and drove in two runs, Adam Rosales had a two-RBI at-bat and Jemile Weeks went 2-for-2 with a triple, walk and two runs scored.
"It was going to take the offense to loosen things up a little bit," Oakland's manager Bob Melvin said after Saturday's triumph. "We've had so many games where we just haven't scored, put a lot of pressure on the pitching staff. It's good that we can contribute offensively and then add on [something] on top of it. They've been games recently where we did score a run or two early. We have not been able to add on after that. So that was a relief."
Left-hander Tommy Milone will hope the offense provides the same type of run support as he takes the mound for the A's tonight. Milone made his season debut against the Royals on April 9 and held Kansas City scoreless for eight innings. Milone was handed a loss after allowing two runs in 6 2/3 innings to the Yankees his last time out. The left-hander has lost two of his last three starts although he has given two runs or less in three of his last four starts.
The Royals will counter with Vin Mazzaro, who was traded from Oakland for David DeJesus in 2010. The Royals right-hander comes in with a 1-0 record and a 4.50 ERA, but he has not pitched since May 25 in a Minor League outing.
Kansas City saw its three-game winning streak snapped on Saturday as its offense was limited. Kansas City had runners in each of the first four innings, but was only able to push one across and was retired in order in the fifth. The Royals in total left eight runners on base and went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Third baseman Mike Moustakas went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and a walk in the ugly loss.
"It just didn't go well for all of us in any aspect today," Moustakas said after Saturday's loss. "We didn't pitch well, didn't hit well, didn't field well. You win games as a team and you lose as a team, and today we definitely lost as a team. That's the great thing about this game, though, we get to play tomorrow."
Alex Gordon and Jeff Francoeur were bright spots in the lineup. Gordon went 2- for-5 with a run scored out of the leadoff spot and Francoeur managed to get two hits and drive in a run in his four at-bats.
Kansas City's 6-18 mark is the worst home record in the Major Leagues.
- OAKLAND: 0
KANSAS CITY: 2
Final
Jun 3 4:48 PM - Johnny Giavotella singled to center scoring Jarrod Dyson with one out. Runner on first and Billy Butler due up.
Athletics 0, Royals 2 Bot 5, 1 OutJun 3 3:46 PM - Eric Hosmer lead-off Home Run (7) to center. Brayan Pena due up.
Athletics 0, Royals 1 Bot 2, 0 OutsJun 3 2:48 PM - OAKLAND: 0
KANSAS CITY: 0
Top 1, 0 Outs
Jun 3 2:11 PM
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