Kansas City Royals defeat Oakland Athletics 11-6 through late inning blitz – MLB Update
Kansas City Royals put in a tremendous performance as they beat Oakland Athletics 11-6 on Monday, September 5 at Oakland Coliseum.
Many expected the Oakland Athletics to turn in their home ground advantage for a win against the Kansas City Royals but that was not to be the case. The visitors had a weakness and it was their opening pitcher, Felipe Paulino. The hurler was exploited well
but it wasn’t enough for the home team to close the deal by the end of the game.
While Paulino was hit for six runs, his 4.1 innings brought an end to the A’s advantage. The Royals were hard on Oakland’s own starting pitcher, Rich Harden. The player conceded four runs off eight hits, posting an ERA of 4.74. With the starters out of the
picture, the Royals’ bullpen produced a strong performance, conceding nothing.
The A’s however, were not as fortunate as the bullpen allowed seven runs off four innings. The list included Craig Breslow, Neil Wagner and Andrew Bailey.
The Royals started the game with three runs off Melky Cabrera, Billy Butler and Eric Hosmer in the top first. Hosmer brought in the first one through a double towards the centre-field. Jeff Francoeur converted the second and the third through a RBI ground
ball single.
The A’s responded in the bottom second through Brandon Allen, who was allowed to clear the last base off Kurt Suzuki’s single to centre. Scott Sizemore smashed Paulino for a three run homer down centre-field to bring up a one run lead on 4-3.
The Royals had plans of their own and designated hitter, Billy Butler slammed a solo home-run in the top third to even the score. Things then moved on to the bottom fifth when Paulino earned two more runs off Jemile Weeks and Cliff Pennington. The A’s were
now 6-4 in the lead.
With an advantage in hand, Oakland lost their chance in the top of the seventh when Breslow allowed a two run homer from Billy Butler after falling victim to Alcides Escobar’s mind games and base steals.
Things just got worst for Oakland as the Royals availed five more runs in the ninth inning to steer itself towards a victory. Bailey allowed runs from Chris Getz, Alex Gordon and Melky Cabrera. Wagner conceded a double RBI to Mike Moustakas, who was called
out on second. The A’s swung out to Joakim Soria and the match was subsequently declared over.
The A’s lost to the Kansas City Royals 6-11. The match also ended their four-game winning streak. With the team lying third in the American League West, it looks like the squad will have to work really hard in the coming few weeks to get to the top two positions
before the regular season ends.
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