Gio Gonzalez economical pitching helps Oakland Athletics beat Kansas City Royals 3-2 – MLB Update
Oakland Athletics’ starter Gio Gonzalez pitched seven solid innings and gave away just two runs in the Athletics’ 3-2 victory against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City on May 6.
Gonzalez expressed his feelings as, “It was kind of awkward. Then he told me, 'Hey, I used to watch you pitch in South Florida.' It was pretty exciting.”
The Athletics were unable to score a single run in the first four innings. The Royals opened their scorecard in the first inning when Alex Gordon hit a solo homer and took the initial 1-0 lead. The Royals were scoreless in the second inning but Matt Treanor
had a lead-off walk and scored a run on the triple of Mike Aviles to extend the lead 2-0 in the third inning.
Eric Hosmer had a huge ovation from his fans when he made his first plate appearance. He made two walks with two at-bats but was unable to add even a single run. Gonzalez said of Hosmer, “It's a great thing that Eric got called up. He's another South Florida
guy and it's an honour to see guys like that come up and continue to do good. And he's going to be a big, big help to Kansas City. You could see it in his swings, the way he approached the game.”
Hosmer went 0-for-2 including two stolen bases and walks. He had an exemplary hitting average of .439 in the Minor Leagues. The scorecard was firm at the end of fourth inning for both sides. Coco Crisp had a remarkable season as he clinched some wins for
his team but now he went 0-for-3 in this game.
Ryan Sweeney, Kurt Suzuki and Andy LaRoche each completed their singles in the fifth inning to take the lead 3-2. LaRoche drove towards the left-field position where Gordon did not stop the ball and he made a single. The rest of the four innings were scoreless
for both the teams. Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a grounder towards the third baseman but went useless for the team.
Gonzalez struck out six batters and allowed four scoreless walks to the Royals. The Athletics’ Manager Bob Geren was contended with the performance of Gonzalez. Speaking to reporters, he said, “Anything we can get our hands on. But the thing is, Gio is going
to pitch his game and make adjustments in-game. See how he swings at certain pitches. The numbers he had in the minor leagues, they don't lie. So obviously he's going to be a good player.”
On the other side, the Royals’ starter Sean O'Sullivan gave three runs to the Athletics on five hits with three earned runs in eight inning pitches. Tim Collins threw the ninth inning without giving a single run.
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