Athletics hang on for harrowing win over Royals
.The Athletics don’t do things the easy way.
That much was evident during a 9-7 road win Saturday over the Kansas City Royals, a game the A’s appeared to have in hand before reliever Sam Moll failed to get an out in giving up a three-run home run to Michael Taylor in the eighth inning.
The A’s led 8-4 after Tony Kemp’s two-run home in the top of the eighth. Kemp also had a pair of doubles and the game’s defensive gem, spearing a line drive out with a sprawling dive in the first inning.
The win in 95-degree heat and Midwest humidity snapped a four-game losing streak as the A’s improved to 24-49. The Royals, who came in having won five of seven, fell to 26-44.
“This game kind of showed this team’s fight,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “They won as a team today. Each guy picked each other up. Every single guy that came into the game just grinded.”
The A’s got an insurance run in the ninth when Christian Bethancourt scored on a two-out wild pitch by Royals reliever Dylan Coleman.
Reliever Zack Jackson (2-2) picked up the win after Jared Koenig was removed after 4 2/3 innings. Jackson pitched one inning and had one strikeout and was credited with the win by the official scorer. A.J. Puk came on afer Koening, getting out of the inning but giving up two hits and a run in 1 1/3 innings. Brad Keller (2-9) tookt he loss for Kansas City.
Lou Trivino closed things out with six-out save in the eighth and ninth. After giving up a line drive the center field fence caught by Cristian Pache with one out, Trivino struck out Michael Taylor to end the game.
The Athletics got some help with two fly balls lost in the sun by right fielder Edwin Olivares that went for doubles and led to Oakland runs. The nine runs were the most scored by the A’s since they got 10 on June 11 in Cleveland and they’d scored 15 runs in their previous 10 games.
Bobby Witt Jr. homered for the Royals, his 11th of the season, and Taylor hit a three-run shot in the eighth against Sam Moll to bring Kansas City within 8-7 against Moll. Moll walked the first two hitters of the inning before giving up the no-doubt shot to Taylor. Moll, who opened the eighth, also walked the next hitter after giving up the home run and was done without getting an out.
Have yourself a day, TK! pic.twitter.com/YfbwBy3mPT
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) June 25, 2022
The Royals got no closer, in part because pinch-runner Kyle Isbel was thrown out a third on a ball that got away from catcher Sean Murphy.
Kemp’s two-run home run in the eighth inning against Taylor Clark put the Athletics up 8-4 in the eighth. The blow down the right-field line brought home Nick Allen, who opened the inning with a walk. Kemp had earlier pulled a long-distance foul against Clark on a fastball.
“I felt like after I yanked that fastball foul inside I was way too early on it and I had a feeling he’d go back to the slider,” Kemp said. “He did , I tried to put a good swing on it and it went out of the ballpark.”
After being blanked in the fifth and sixth innings by former A’s pitcher Daniel Mengden, the Athletics increased their lead to 6-4 in the seventh on Murphy’s run-scoring single to right. It brought home Seth Brown, who had doubled.
The A’s lead was down to 5-4 when No. 9 hitter Cam Gallagher doubled off Puk down the left field line to score Taylor, who had singled.
Kansas City closed within 5-3 against Koenig in the fourth when Gallagher drove in a pair of runs with a double down the same left-field line, scoring Melendez, who had singled, and Carlos Santana, who had doubled.
The Athletics took a 3-0 lead in the third on Brown’s run-scoring groundout but could be forgiven for being disappointed they didn’t break the game open.
Kemp reached on a double when his fly to right was list in the sun by Oliveras, with Jonah Bride and Ramon Laureano drawing walks to load the bases.
Brown’s roller to short brought home Kemp, and when Witt at shortstop threw to first, the A’s still had runners at second and third with one out. Keller got out of it however, getting Murphy to pop to second and Christian Bethancourt on a foul out to right on a 10-pitch at-bat.
After the Royals closed within 3-1 on Witt’s solo home run against Koenig in the top of the fourth, the Athletics struck for two more in the bottom of the inning with the help of another ball into the sun by Olivares.
This time it was Elvis Andrus who got the gift double, with Nick Allen driving a ball back up the middle to score Andrus, and then taking second on pure hustle. Bride’s single up the middle scored Allen, and the Athletics had a 5-1 lead.
The A’s scored twice in the first on Brown’s run-scoring single and an RBI ground out by Murphy.
TRIVINO’S EFFORT
It’s been a rough go for Trivino, and after Moll came undone in the eighth, the Athletics were looking at seeing another game get away as it did last Thursday with Jackson and A.J. Puk after Frankie Montas had thrown eight shutout innings.
Instead, Trivino, who has a 7.52 ERA, ended up getting six outs and a save, his third of the season.
“We leaned on Lou today,” Kotsay said. “He made pitches. Coming off the mound (in the eighth), you could tell he was fired up and wanted the ball in the ninth. That’s the Lou I’ve seen in the past and what we hope to see in the future.”