Duffy, Royals upend A's
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Danny Duffy pitched into the seventh inning to 4 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
Duffy (4-8), who gave up four hits and three runs over 6 1/3 innings, earned his first win since July 31 at Cleveland. The rookie southpaw lost his previous four decisions over a six-start span.
Francoeur and Salvador Perez each had three hits with an RBI and two runs scored for Kansas City, which will try for the three-game sweep Wednesday afternoon.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Jemile Weeks had three hits and two RBI for the A's, who had won four in a row entering this series. Cliff Pennington also drove in two runs.
Gio Gonzalez (12-12) was touched for 10 hits and seven runs -- six earned -- over five innings to have his three-start winning streak snapped.
"I threw some good quality pitches...but they scored some runs off me," Gonzalez said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Oakland loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth and Brandon Allen scored on a walk to Pennington. Joakim Soria, who entered the game with two on an nobody out earlier in the frame, then retired Hideki Matsui on a ground ball to notch his 26th save.
Hosmer and Francoeur hit back-to-back homers to start the second inning, and the Royals scored two more in the frame, one on an infield hit from Alcides Escobar and another on a groundout from Alex Gordon.
Weeks doubled in a run in the third, and Pennington followed with an RBI single to left.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The Royals tacked on three in the fifth, on a groundout from Johnny Giavotella, a double from Perez and a bases-loaded walk to Gordon.
"Our offense did a great job...off of a guy we think is a pretty darn good pitcher," Royals manager Ned Yost said.
Weeks' infield hit plated Michael Taylor in the seventh inning. Taylor, a fifth-round draft choice by Philadelphia in 2007, recorded his first major league hit, a single, earlier in the ninth.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Game Notes
The season series is even after eight games...Weeks has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games...Hosmer has a 15-game hitting streak on the road.