Royals fall late to Athletics 3-2, end with winning road trip

The Royals bullpen failed to hold a one-run lead as the Royals lose the series to Oakland with a 3-2 loss on Sunday. The A's finished off their comeback on Josh Reddick's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth off Joakim Soria to score Billy Burns from third base. Burns had tripled into the right field corner off Soria, a ground ball just past the outstretched glove of Eric Hosmer, before rattling around and giving right-fielder Reymond Fuentes issues.

The offense continued its woes, but they did manage to plate the first run in this contest and build a lead. Eric Hosmer set the table for the Royals to get on the board with a double to left to open the second inning, then came around to score on Alex Gordon's single up the middle. Mike Moustakas expanded the lead with a no-doubt home run to deep right-center to make it 2-0. The moonshot was Moose's fourth of the year.

Kris Medlen was fantastic over his first six innings of work. The only run in those frames came across in the fourth inning when a walk and a single put runners on the corners. Medlen appeared to get out of the jam when he struck out Chris Coughlan swinging on a breaking pitch on a 3-2 count. However the ball hit the dirt and skidded under Salvador Perez's glove to allow Coughlan to reach base and Coco Crisp to score from third base.

Medlen retired the first hitter of the seventh before giving up a double to Coughlan, prompting Ned Yost to pull him with just 86 pitches. Jed Lowrie worked reliever Kelvin Herrera well in a seven-pitch at-bat that eventually led to an RBI single that would tie the game. Medlen  would get a no-decision for his excellent start, striking out four and walking four.

The Royals had something going in the ninth off Athletics reliever Ryan Madson. With two outs, Salvador Perez singled, and was replaced by pinch-runner Terrance Gore. Gore stole second base, putting the game-tying run in scoring position. But Reymond Fuentes' line drive could not find a hole, and the game ended in a Royals loss. Kansas City ends their road trip with four runs and three losses, but the offense again struggled today with just six hits. The Royals remain tied with the White Sox for first place in the Central Division at 8-4, and will head back today for a six-game homestand that begins Tuesday against the Tigers.