Kansas City, MO – Josh Reddick had a two-run home run and four RBI and the Oakland Athletics defeated the Kansas City Royals, 10-4, in the rubber match of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.
Eric Sogard had a two-run homer and three RBI while Jed Lowrie hit a solo shot and drove in two runs for the Athletics, who have won eight of their last 11 games.
A.J. Griffin (7-6) gave up two runs on five hits and a walk in five frames, but needed 105 pitches. Jesse Chavez pitched the final four innings of relief, giving up just three hits and a walk to notch his first career save.
"It was just a great game all around," said Sogard. "Griffin battled out there for awhile, got behind a few hitters and made him pay. Chavez came in and did a great job shutting them down."
Alex Gordon and George Kottaras each had a home run while Mike Moustakas and Miguel Tejada drove in one run apiece for the Royals.
"Yeah, you know it was a big deficit, but we didn't really give up," said Kottaras. "We put some runs up a little later in the game. Those games are going to happen."
Luis Mendoza (2-5) lasted just 1 2/3 innings, surrendering five runs on five hits and two walks.
Oakland battered Mendoza with five runs in the second. Reddick started the scoring with a one-out, two-RBI double to center. Following a strikeout by Chris Young, Sogard smacked a run-scoring double before Coco Crisp and Lowrie laced consecutive RBI-base hits, prompting Royals manager Ned Yost to take Mendoza out of the game.
Bruce Chen came on in relief and gave up a single to Josh Donaldson, but got Yoenis Cespedes to pop out to end the inning.
Kottaras delivered a solo shot with two outs in the bottom half, but the Athletics extended their lead in the third.
Brandon Moss singled to lead off but was caught stealing second. John Jaso singled to left, setting up Reddick's two-run smash.
Gordon crushed a two-out, 2-0 fastball in the home fifth, but Lowrie responded with a solo shot in the sixth.
In the home half of the sixth, Lorenzo Cain hit a leadoff single off Jerry Blevins and scored on a double by Moustakas. After Kottaras walked, Chavez came on in relief. Jarrod Dyson singled to right and Tejada's infield single plated Moustakas.
The A's weren't done scoring, however. In the seventh, with one on and two out, Sogard crushed the first pitch he saw from Kansas City reliever Will Smith over the wall in right to push the lead to 10-4.
In the ninth, Chavez allowed a one-out single by Eric Hosmer but got Billy Butler and Cain to groundout consecutively to end the game.
Game Notes
Reddick went 5-for-11 with seven RBI in the series ... Sogard's homer was his first since April 27, 2012 ... The Athletics hit 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position while the Royals went 2-for-6 ... The A's are 137-140 in Kansas City, including 117-124 at Kauffman Stadium.
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