Associated Press

Jemile Weeks played through some nerves, Gio Gonzalez played through an illness and the Oakland Athletics played well enough for their first series win under interim manager Bob Melvin.

Weeks had two hits and drove in three runs, and Hideki Matsui homered to lead the Oakland Athletics to an 8-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday.

Matsui’s solo blast gave him a combined 499 homers in Japan and the U.S. and helped Oakland win a second straight game for the first time since a four-game streak May 26-29.

“The first couple of days were shaky from nerves and I just tried to stay confident,” said Weeks, hitting .344 (11 for 32) since his June 7 callup. “I’m just going out there and playing as hard as I can.”

Melky Cabrera had two hits and drove in a run for the Royals, who lost their second straight. Jeff Francoeur, Wilson Betemit and Brayan Pena each added an RBI.

“He was establishing his fastball and left it up in the zone and we were chasing it,” said Francoeur, who also struck out four times. “That’s not a good combination, especially when you throw 94 miles an hour like he does.”

Daric Barton drove in two runs, and Coco Crisp and Kurt Suzuki each had an RBI in support of Gio Gonzalez (6-5), who ended a personal three-game slide for his first win since May 17.

“There were a couple of innings where I had to sit down and take a deep breath,” Gonzalez said. “My throat is a little sore and I feel a little weak but I didn’t want to show any weakness.”

Gonzalez allowed two runs on five hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out 10.

“He’s usually pretty animated and he was subdued,” Melvin said. “You could tell he was feeling it.”

Jeff Francis (3-7) gave up a season-high six runs on nine hits over 3 1/3 innings, his second- shortest outing of the season. He walked two and did not strike out a batter in a game for the first time.

“I was falling behind guys in certain situations and that doesn’t do me any good,” Francis said. “When I did throw a good pitch they put some good swings on them.”

Melvin earned his first ejection in an Oakland uniform, getting tossed by third base umpire Tim Tschida in the top of the third.

“There was some miscommunication,” Melvin said. “Tim thought I was arguing with him but I was just waving my arms and yelling because I thought we weren’t getting calls. It was not great form getting kicked out.”

Weeks’ two-out double scored two runners in the second during the A’s four-run rally.

“Hitting is contagious in my opinion and when guys are hitting like that you think, ‘Well, I better go up there and get a hit,'” Weeks said.

Matsui led off the third with his sixth home run of the season and third in seven games after going homerless in his previous 23 games. Barton later added his second RBI of the game.

“I don’t know the time difference but I’m pretty sure a lot of people in Japan will be watching,” Melvin said.

The Royals scored twice in the fifth to make it 6-2 on Cabrera’s single and Francoeur’s double.

Weeks singled home a run in the bottom of the fifth and Suzuki doubled home a run in the seventh.

Betemit and Pena each doubled in a run for the Royals in the eighth.

Associated Press

Josh Outman allowed four hits over seven innings and the Oakland Athletics gave new manager Bob Melvin his first home victory by beating the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Wednesday night.

Cliff Pennington and Daric Barton had RBI singles off starter Luke Hochevar (4-7), who took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before it all fell apart.

The scuffling A’s had lost three straight and 13 of 14 in a streak that began under Bob Geren. Melvin improved to 2-4 since taking over for the fired Geren.

Outman (2-1) struck out two and walked two in the deepest outing of his major league career without allowing a run. Andrew Bailey pitched a perfect ninth for his second save in three chances.

The only noise the Royals made all game came far too late.

Alcides Escobar had three hits, including a double off reliever Brian Fuentes in the eighth, to tie his career high with an eight-game hitting streak. He scored a batter later when Alex Gordon singled to trim Oakland’s lead to 2-1.

Melvin came out for a brief conference with Fuentes, who then allowed Melky Cabrera’s single to put runners on first and third with two outs. Fuentes rallied by getting Eric Hosmer to foul out along the spacious third-base line.

Neither team had many chances in this one.

David DeJesus sent Hochevar’s third pitch of the game off the pitcher’s right elbow, redirecting the ball to second baseman Chris Getz for an easy groundout. Hochevar was inspected by a team trainer and threw a few light tosses before staying in the game.

The hard-throwing right-hander showed no effects from the bruising shot. Hideki Matsui’s two walks were the only time an Oakland player reached base until Landon Powell’s line-drive single to center leading off the sixth.

Then it all came unraveled.

Jemile Weeks followed with a bunt up the first-base line, Hochevar fielded the ball and tossed it to first baseman Eric Hosmer hustling back to the bag. Television replays appeared to show Hosmer tagging Weeks just before he reached the base, but he was called safe by first base umpire Jeff Nelson.

After DeJesus bunted into a fielder’s choice, Weeks stole third base without a throw. Then Pennington drove him in with a single to give Oakland a 1-0 lead.

As bad as the Royals were offensively, Oakland was even better defensively.

Matt Treanor sent a shot off Outman deep to left field in the fourth that seemed headed for the seats. Josh Willingham backpedalled to the wall and leaped up to catch the ball near the top of the wall, robbing Treanor of extra bases and possibly a home run.

Ryan Sweeney provided another big defensive play for the A’s, running down Jeff Francoeur’s soaring shot to deep center in the seventh with a runner on first. Sweeney followed with a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning, and Barton drove him in two batters latter to put Oakland ahead 2-0.

Associated Press

Kansas City pitcher Danny Duffy didn’t see much need to celebrate his first victory in the major leagues. His teammates thought otherwise and gave the Royals rookie a milk shower.

What else would you expect from the youngest team in the big leagues?

Duffy pitched six innings, Alcides Escobar had three hits and two RBIs and Kansas City beat Oakland 7-4 on Tuesday night to spoil the home debut of Athletics interim manager Bob Melvin.

Pitching before more than 100 friends and family members, Duffy (1-2) gave up two runs and four hits. The left-hander worked out of jams with two runners on and less than two outs in three innings and overcame four walks to win for the first time in six starts.

“It was awesome. I couldn’t pick a better night to get a win,” said Duffy, who began the season in the minors. “It’s a milestone, but at the same time I’m ready to finish out the season strong. We’ve got a lot of baseball left and we’re trying to get into the playoffs.”

Mike Moustakas singled twice and scored both times, and Billy Butler added a two-run double while helping the Royals to their fourth victory in five games.

Kansas City remains in a deep hole in the AL Central, but things look much better after improving to 3-1 on its road trip following a 4-7 homestand.

“That was good for us to get away for a bit,” said first baseman Eric Hosmer, who had two hits and an RBI. “It was big for us to be able to go down to L.A. and take two of three from a good Angels team. If we can get out of here with a few more victories and head into St. Louis with some momentum, that will be big for us.”

Kansas City’s latest road win didn’t come easily.

After the Royals scored two runs in the eighth to take a 6-2 lead, the A’s scored twice with two outs against reliever Greg Holland in the bottom half. Aaron Crow got the final out of the inning and Joakim Soria pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 15 chances.

Hideki Matsui homered and scored twice for the A’s.

Melvin, who took over when Bob Geren was fired June 9, was greeted warmly by the Coliseum crowd during pregame introductions. But those cheers turned to boos as the A’s lost for the 13th time in 14 games and fell a season-high 12 games under .500.

The Royals didn’t get much going early and scored their first run without a hit, but took advantage of Trevor Cahill’s wildness.

Cahill had a career-high seven walks and two wild pitches, continuing a troubling trend for A’s starters who have not won in 14 consecutive games.

“That’s not what we were looking for our first game home,” Melvin said. “Trevor was a little out of sorts. You’re not going to see him walk that many. He has to let it go and not try to muscle it. He has to let it work naturally for him.”

Jeff Francoeur and Butler drew consecutive walks in the second against Cahill and both moved up on a sacrifice. Matt Treanor grounded out, scoring Francoeur.

Kansas City failed to score after loading the bases with one out in the third but got to Cahill for another run in the fourth despite hitting only one ball out of the infield. Moustakas singled, took second on first baseman Daric Barton’s throwing error and moved to third on a sacrifice before Escobar’s RBI groundout made it 2-0.

Escobar, who also doubled home a run in the ninth, has nine hits in his last four games. The four straight multihit games are a first for the Royals shortstop.

Oakland cut the lead to 2-1 in the fourth on Matsui’s fifth home run. It was the 498th homer of his professional career, including Japan.

Cahill’s command problems cost him again in the fifth. The right-hander issued consecutive one-out walks to Hosmer and Francoeur before Butler doubled over the head of left fielder Josh Willingham. Hosmer and Francoeur both scored, making it 4-1.

Cahill (6-5) was done two batters later despite giving up only four hits. He looked like a potential Cy Young Award candidate after starting the year 6-0, but is winless in his last seven starts.

Duffy had his own command problems but kept the damage to a minimum. He gave up a triple to rookie Jemile Weeks in the fifth, and Weeks scored on Coco Crisp’s sinking single to right. Beyond that, Duffy was solid while pitching his way to his first win in the majors.

Afterward, he received a milk shower courtesy of his teammates. Team tradition calls for beer showers, but the Athletics do not provide beer in the Coliseum clubhouses.

“That was the Duffy I know,” Hosmer said. “He was pounding the strike zone all day.”