OAKLAND, Calif. | Outfielder Jos&#233; Guillen returned Monday to the Royals&#8217; lineup after a one-game absence because of an ailing left groin. And it&#8217;s best &#8212; perhaps &#8212; that his return came in a road game.</p><p>Guillen acknowledged, again, being irritated by the boos Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium when he failed to make the catch on a high pop to short right field. He said the groin injury, aggravated earlier in the game, prevented him from making the play.</p><p>&#8220;Some fans got upset,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and I got upset because they thought I wasn&#8217;t trying. I heard all kinds of stuff out there. It bothers me. I should catch that ball, but I was having problems coming in.&#8221; The ball fell for a two-out double in a tie game. Tampa Bay went on to score two runs in a 5-3 victory.</p><p>&#8220;A lot of those fans,&#8221; Guillen said, &#8220;they&#8217;re really getting into my head right now. They don&#8217;t know what&#8217;s going on. Fans who understand baseball, they know what&#8217;s going on. They know I care about winning.&#8221;</p><p>Guillen&#8217;s movement remained limited going into Monday&#8217;s series opener against the A&#8217;s at McAfee Coliseum.</p><p>&#8220;He feels a little bit better,&#8221; manager Trey Hillman said. &#8220;He&#8217;s going to try to play defense and hit fourth.&#8221;</p><p>On cue, Guillen hit the first pitch he saw Monday from Oakland starter Dallas Braden for a two-run homer in the first inning. It was Guillen&#8217;s first homer since June 23 but boosted his club-leading totals to 14 homers and 69 RBIs.</p><p>&#8220;I feel much better playing away from home,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m serious. I&#8217;m dead serious. Look at my numbers at home and my numbers on the road. What does that tell you?&#8221;</p><p>There is a disparity:</p><p>Guillen is batting .254 in 49 home games with five homers and 25 RBIs. He entered Monday with a .265 average in 50 road games with eight homers and 42 RBIs.</p><p>&#8220;Playing away has been more fun for me,&#8221; he said.</p><p>&#8220;Why? I don&#8217;t know, but I&#8217;m real happy to be out of there. It&#8217;s been more fun for me to play on the road than to play at home. I wish we could go the rest of the season playing away.&#8221;</p><p>The current trip lasts just two more days.</p><p>The Royals return Friday to Kauffman Stadium for a nine-game home stand against the White Sox, Red Sox and Twins.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Hometown hero</span></strong></p><p>Oakland&#8217;s record-setting reliever, Brad Ziegler, has all kinds of Heartland ties. He was born in Pratt, Kan., went to high school in Odessa, Mo., and to college at Missouri State.</p><p>Ziegler, 28, set a major-league record Sunday by stretching his streak of scoreless innings at the start of a career to 27.</p><p>That passed George McQuillan of the 1907 Philadelphia Athletics, who held the old mark at 25 innings.</p><p>The Hall of Fame has already asked for Ziegler&#8217;s cleats and cap as a memento.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve never had anything handed to me in my career,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and that makes this even more satisfying.&#8221;</p><p>Ziegler made his debut May 31 after a torturous road to the big leagues that included two skull fractures.</p><p>Ziegler spent time in 2004 with Schaumburg of the Northern League before signing with the A&#8217;s and beginning a slow ascent through their system.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">First things first</span></strong></p><p>Mike Aviles&#8217; one-out single boosted his first-inning average to .467, which ranks second in the majors among players with at least 25 at-bats in the first inning.</p><p>Aviles is batting .467 in the first inning with 14 hits in 30 at-bats. The Elias Sports Bureau says that ranks second to San Diego&#8217;s Scott Hairston, who is batting .471 with 16 hits in 34 at-bats.