Despite leading twice in this afternoon’s ballgame, the Royals fell behind in the bottom of the second and never again challenged the Athletics.
The Royals led off the scoring in the bottom of the first on a two-out RBI single by Starling Marte, the first of his three singles of the afternoon. Maikel Garcia, who doubled on the first pitch of the game, scored. Unfortunately, with the bases still loaded, Carter Jensen struck to end the frame. Jensen’s day at the plate would not improve.
In the bottom
of the first, Garcia stayed in the spotlight, this time missing a grounder he normally snags, which turned into a double for A’s DH Shea Langeliers (Stephen King’s favorite Athletic) and men on second and third with none out. With one out, the A’s had the bases loaded, but Royals starting pitcher Noah Cameron minimized the damage by giving up only one run.
Garcia homered in his second at-bat of the afternoon, this time in the top of the second, to put the Royals up 2-1. Garcia had an injury scare in the bottom of the first when the Athletics tied things, but he stayed in the game, later adding another double. He finished the day 3-for-5 with two doubles, a homer, two runs, a stolen base, and one RBI.
But the A’s took control in the bottom of the inning and never ceded it. Langeliers doubled in Lawrence Butler to tie the game before Nick Kurtz doubled in both Langeliers and Jacob Wilson. Kurtz would then score on a little dribbler hit to Loftin who made an off-line throw to Salvador Perez, today’s first baseman, who failed to handle it.
5-2, Athletics.
The game settled down after that. The A’s starting pitcher, Jeffrey Springs, threw a lot of pitches in a short period of time before leaving due to the injury. The A’s bullpen took over, tossing six innings of five-hit, two-run ball. In the bottom of the seventh, the A’s scored another run before Elias Diaz homered in the top of the eighth to cut the lead to 6-3.
That was pretty much it. Jac Caglianone reached base in the top of the ninth, and with the Royals down to their last out, Vinnie Pasquantino pinch-hit. Like a lot of Royals today, he hit the ball hard, but right at an Athletic.
Game, set, match. Oakland takes the day, 6-3, and the series, 2-1.
Now the Royals are off to Seattle to take on the Mariners in a weekend series.
