KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The Royals rallied from a five-run deficit to pull within a run in the eighth inning. However, they gave up a run in the top of the ninth and weren't able to get over the hump in their last chance at the plate.
The rally fell short despite a Ryan O'Hearn RBI single in the ninth inning that scored Alex Gordon. The Royals dropped the fourth and final game of their series with the Oakland Athletics, 9-8, in front of an announced 13,844 Thursday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. The A's won three of the four games.
Jorge Soler hit his 37th home run of the season, while Whit Merrifield had a three-hit game and extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Nicky Lopez (hit, RBI) extended his hitting streak to 12 games, and Cheslor Cuthbert drove in a pair of runs.
Soler, who entered the day with the second-most homers in the American League this season, moved into sole possession of second place on the franchise's single-season home run list. His first-inning blast moved pushed him ahead of Steve Balboni and within one homer of tying Mike Moustakas' single-season club record of 38 set in 2017.
Soler has slightly more than a month remaining in the season to tie and surpass Moustakas' mark. Moustakas' 38th home run of the 2017 season came on Sept. 25, two days after he'd hit his 37th.
Royals starting pitcher Glenn Sparkman allowed seven runs on nine hits and a walk in 4 1/3 innings. He also hit a pair of batters and allowed a home run.
The Royals will begin a weekend series with the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals will start left-hander Eric Skoglund (0-0, 3.60), and the Orioles had not officially listed a starter as of Thursday afternoon.
