Straight A’s: Royals sweep series from Oakland with 5-4, 9-6 victories in double-header

Alas, the Oakland A’s have left town.

The Royals have a mere 13 victories since July 27, but six of them are against the free-falling A’s after Thursday’s double-header sweep at Kauffman Stadium.

Joey Gathright’s walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning produced a 5-4 victory in the opener before the Royals lashed out 15 hits in a 9-6 victory in the nightcap.

The Royals have now won four of their last five after completing their three-game sweep. Their last sweep? July 28-30 in Oakland.

The A’s are 12-35 since July 11, which roughly coincides with their decision to trade Rich Harden to the Cubs and Joe Blanton to the Phillies.

Whatever. The Royals aren’t picky after losing 19 of their previous 23 game before Oakland hit town.

The Royals did their best to make things interesting. They blew a 4-0 lead in the opener and nearly let a 9-1 lead get away in the second game.

Robinson Tejeda gave up three runs in the seventh innning, and Kip Wells gave up two more in the ninth before Ramon Ramirez retired the final three hitters for his first career save.

The double-header sweep was the first by the Royals since Aug. 18, 2006 — here against the A’s.

David DeJesus had three hits in both games and put down a sacrifice bunt that led to the winning run in the opener. Billy Butler had three doubles and three RBIs and extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Mike Aviles went four for eight and raised his average to .334 but made a costly error in the opener that led to three unearned runs. That probably cost Brian Bannister a chance to post his first victory since June 23.

“Not only do we need a win,” manager Trey Hillman said, “but Banny needs a win. Those personal numbers — he’s not a selfish guy — but those help build confidence. I was really hoping that he would get the win.”

Bannister allowed just one earned run in seven innings but settled for a no-decision. Joakim Soria, 2-3, got the victory by pitching two scoreless innings before Gathright delivered his game-winner against A’s reliever Joey Devine, 4-1.

Butler’s RBI double keyed a four-run first inning against Dan Meyer, 0-4, in the second game. Meyer allowed eight runs in 3 1/3 innings before exiting.

Even so, Royals starter Kyle Davies, 6-6, barely made it through the five innings necessary to break a four-game losing streak. He allowed just one run and three hits but threw 101 pitches before the bullpen closed out the sweep.

The Royals built a 4-0 lead for Bannister in the opener by bunching six hits in a four-run third inning against Oakland starter Dana Eveland. Butler provided the key blow in that surge, too, with a two-run double.

Bannister limited the A’s to two singles in the first four innings before a single and Aviles’ error put runners at first and second with one out in the fifth. The error came on a routine up the middle that should have resulted in an inning-ending double play.

“It’s part of the game,” Bannister said. “When you don’t strike guys out, there are a lot of balls in play.”

Bobby Crosby followed by ripping an RBI single into center. Jack Cust’s two-out double scored two more runs. Three unearned runs, and the lead was down to 4-3.

The A’s pulled even in the sixth on Daric Barton’s leadoff homer.

It stayed that way until Esteban German opened the 10th inning by reaching on Crosby’s throwing error from short. DeJesus followed with a sacrifice, which prompted Devine to issue an intentional walk to Aviles.

Gathright then slapped an RBI single past third base.

Next page >

To reach Bob Dutton, Royals reporter for The Star, call 816-234-4352 or send e-mail to bdutton@kcstar.com.