OAKLAND, Calif. _ Alex Gordon finished 2 for 5 and produced a tie-breaking RBI single in the ninth. The Royals survived another bullpen collapse in a 7-6 victory over the Oakland A's on Wednesday afternoon.
The performance was not pretty. The Royals matched a season high by leaving 12 men on base. Reliever Brandon Maurer blew a 6-4 lead in the eighth.
Yet, Kansas City found a way to escape Oakland with a victory on the final day of an eight-game road trip. Shortstop Alcides Escobar matched his season high with three hits and led off the ninth with a double to left field against A's reliever Blake Treinen, a native of Osage City, Kan. Escobar scored on the second RBI single from Gordon, who finished the day with his batting average at .200.
Lorenzo Cain added a two-run blast in the fourth inning. The Royals finished the road trip 4-4 after opening it with three straight losses. It almost ended with five straight wins.
On Tuesday, Joakim Soria and Mike Minor combined to allow six runs in the eighth inning of a 10-8 loss, blowing a four-run lead. Another bullpen debacle surfaced in the eighth inning Wednesday.
Maurer could not preserve a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the eighth, surrendering a two-run homer to Oakland's Matt Chapman. Maurer opened the inning by allowing a single to Ryon Healy before leaving a fastball up to Chapman with one out.
The A's put runners at second and third with two outs. Maurer pitched out of the jam, allowing the Royals' offense to go back to work in the ninth.
Kansas City opened the scoring in the first inning on an RBI single by Mike Moustakas against Oakland starter Paul Blackburn. Cain walked with one out before Eric Hosmer grounded into a fielder's choice. Melky Cabrera moved Hosmer to third with two outs before Moustakas ripped a liner off the glove of Chapman, the A's third baseman.
Blackburn, a rookie acquired last November in a trade that sent Danny Valencia to Seattle, had logged a 3.02 ERA in the first eight starts of his career.
The Royals ambushed him in the early innings, yet they failed to capitalize on the golden chances. The offense loaded the bases with nobody out in the third. Moustakas struck out on three straight pitches, offering at an 0-2 fastball, before Brandon Moss laced a ball toward second base and hit into an inning-ending double play.
Relieved by the escape, the A's struck for two runs against Danny Duffy in the bottom half of the inning, taking advantage of two mistakes. Duffy opened the inning by walking Dustin Garneau, a .198 hitter, on five pitches. Two batters later, Marcus Semien saw a 0-1 change-up and hammered the pitch 391 feet to left-center for a two-run homer.
The Oakland lead lasted just a half-inning. Escobar dropped down a bunt single and advanced to third on a two-base throwing error by Chapman. Drew Butera scored Escobar with a one-out single. And Cain broke the deadlock with a booming 421-foot homer to center field, putting Kansas City ahead 4-2.
Gordon offered an insurance run in the fifth, recording his 36th RBI of the season on a single to right field. He would need to add another one before the Royals could leave with a victory.
