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.”

Royals Media Relations

The Kansas City Royals announced today that the club has signed five more selections from the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft, including seventh-round pick Kellen Moen, a right-handed pitcher from the University of Oregon.

The Royals have now inked 21 of the club’s 50 selections from last week’s draft.  In addition, the Royals announced the signing of five undrafted free agents to minor league contracts.

The four signings in addition to Moen are 15th round pick Dean Espy, a first baseman from UCLA; 24th pick Spencer Patton, a right-handed pitcher from SIU-Edwardsville; 33rd rounder Abel Gonzalez, a left-handed pitcher from Rice University, and 46th round selection Adrian Bringas, a third baseman from Chico (Calif.) State University.

Associated Press

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Vin Mazzaro didn’t strike out a single batter and walked five, three of them leading off an inning — not exactly a recipe for success.

What got him going through seven scoreless innings was the fact that his defense turned five double plays in Kansas City’s 9-0 rout of the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday in the rubber game of the three-game series.

“I felt great out there, commanding my fastball on both sides of the plate and running it in on the hands,” Mazzaro said. “I gave them some free passes, but I made some good pitches when I needed to and got the groundballs. I just wanted to keep attacking the zone, let the guys behind me do the job.”

Mazzaro (1-1) scattered five hits in his third start with Kansas City. He pitched to contact throughout the game, inducing double-play grounders by Torii Hunter, Howie Kendrick, Mark Trumbo and Bobby Abreu. Hank Conger lined into the other one. All five DPs were started by shortstop Alcides Escobar.

“Vin pitched a great game today,” said Royals rookie first baseman Eric Hosmer, who finished with 11 putouts. “Whenever guys were on base he was getting that slider and sinker down, getting them to roll over on it. That’s why we turned so many double plays. He was pitching to contact and did a great job for us.”

The Royals’ 24-year-old right-hander also escaped a bases-loaded jam in the seventh by retiring Peter Bourjos on a fielder’s choice with his 102nd pitch.

“This is the Mazzaro we saw last year that we wanted to trade for — a guy that can change speeds, get you off balance and command the baseball,” manager Ned Yost said. “That’s a good offense over there, and they can put runs on the board in a hurry. They’re just stale right now and they’re struggling to score runs.”

Blake Wood worked the final two innings, helping send the Angels to their ninth shutout loss — matching their total from all of last season.

“It’s hard to believe, especially because of the lineup we have,” Abreu said. “The way we’re swinging, all of the pitchers look a little tougher. I don’t want to offend anyone, but we haven’t hit the way we’re supposed to hit.”

Mazzaro came in with a whopping 17.47 ERA after giving up 22 earned runs, 25 hits and eight walks in just 11 1/3 innings this season spanning three appearances. Most of that damage came during his only relief outing on May 16 against Cleveland, when he surrendered 14 runs and 11 hits over 2 1/3 innings in the Royals’ 19-1 loss and was optioned to Triple-A right after that game.

“Basically I focused on throwing first-pitch strikes down there, attacking the zone and not trying to nibble on the corners,” Mazzaro said. “When you can throw all of your pitches over for strikes, good things are going to happen. It’s a good step forward.”

The last time the Angels hit into this many double plays in a nine-inning game was Aug. 3, 2004, when Minnesota executed six against.

“Mazzaro was throwing sinkers and a pretty good slider, and we didn’t make good contact,” Abreu said. “Sometimes he came up with a changeup, and he threw almost everything middle-away. No one struck out today, but we didn’t produce any runs.”

Alex Gordon, Billy Butler and Chris Getz each drove in two runs for the Royals, who won seven of their 10 meetings with the Angels — just the second time they’ve taken a season series from them in the last 15 years. It was their highest victory total against the Halos since 1996, when they won eight of 12.

Rookie Tyler Chatwood (3-4) threw 82 pitches in 3 2/3 innings, giving up five runs, five hits and three walks while the Angels lost for the seventh time in eight games. The Royals got their first run in the second inning when Mitch Maier drew a leadoff walk and was balked home by the right-hander, chased during Kansas City’s four-run fourth.

Matt Treanor hit an RBI double and Getz followed with the first of his two run-scoring singles. Treanor was thrown out at the plate on a grounder to first by Escobar, but Gordon lined an 0-2 pitch to left-center for a double that scored two runs and gave Kansas City a 5-0 cushion before Hisanori Takahashi was summoned from the bullpen.

This was the third straight start by Chatwood in which his teammates didn’t score while he was in the game.

Associated Press

Angels manager Mike Scioscia didn’t mince words during his closed-door meeting with his top three run producers: Torii Hunter, Bobby Abreu and Vernon Wells. The offense wasn’t getting the job done, and they were being held accountable.

The rest of the Los Angeles hitters must have been listening outside the door of Scioscia’s office during the expletive-laced session, because the team responded with a big night at the plate.

Erick Aybar opened the scoring with a three-run triple, Abreu came home with the go-ahead run on reliever Aaron Crow’s second wild pitch of the seventh inning, and the Angels snapped a season-worst six-game losing streak with a 7-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.

Howie Kendrick had three hits, including a pair of RBI singles, and the slumping Wells singled his first three times up.

Scioscia called the meeting before batting practice to impress upon his three veteran All-Stars their responsibilities as a trio in the middle of the lineup to wake up a slumbering offense that had averaged two runs over the previous nine games.

“Man, he cursed us out. It was pretty bad,” Hunter said. “The words he used in there really hurt our feelings, but it actually pumped us up to keep going. He really cursed me out. It wasn’t fun. But I appreciate that meeting. Today we had a lot of fight. We got better swings from everybody and played the game the right way. It was a lot of fun. That’s what we have to continue doing.”

Hunter, Abreu and Wells were a combined 4 for 10 with two walks and no RBIs. Hunter prevented the Royals from taking the lead in the seventh when he fielded Jeff Francoeur’s single to right field and threw out Melky Cabrera at the plate for his eighth outfield assist this season.

“I had a clean scoop on it and I just told myself to make a nice, accurate throw to the plate and give Jeff Mathis something he could handle,” Hunter said. “I knew that if they sent him, he was dead. I couldn’t believe that they sent him.”

Royals reliever Tim Collins (3-3) was replaced by Crow after giving up a pair of one-out walks in the bottom half. Abreu scored on the wild pitch to Alberto Callaspo, who was intentionally walked. Wells and Callaspo executed a double steal, and Wells scored on Kendrick’s single off Crow’s left foot.

Scott Downs (4-2) retired all four batters he faced to get the win, and rookie Jordan Walden pitched a scoreless ninth for his 14th save in 17 chances. He struck out Eric Hosmer and Francoeur before retiring Billy Butler on a fly to right with the potential tying runs at second and third.

“It feels good to get that six-game losing streak out of the way. It was ugly,” Hunter said. “I almost jumped up and down after catching that last flyball. I felt like I won the World Series.”

Angels right-hander Joel Pineiro came up short again in his sixth attempt to get his 100th major league victory. He was charged with five runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings, leaving with a 5-4 lead before Matt Treanor greeted Rich Thompson with a tying RBI single. It was the seventh hit the Australian-born righty allowed in his last four appearances.

“The situation that’s going on has nothing to do with 100 wins,” Pineiro said. “Honestly, I wanted to win for the team. I didn’t care if it was 100, 300, whatever. I mean, I just wanted to get back on track and do what I’m supposed to be doing. I’m just hoping that when it turns around, it turns around big. There’s no excuse tonight. I got the runs. For some reason, my off-speed stuff was better than my sinker.”

Mike Moustakas tried to score on a safety squeeze by Chris Getz moments later, and was cut down at the plate by first baseman Kendrick’s throw to Mathis. Alcides Escobar walked, loading the bases, but Thompson came back to strike out Alex Gordon.

Moustakas, the second overall pick in the 2007 draft and one of nine rookies on the Royals’ roster, hit his first major league home run in his sixth plate appearance — a solo shot that landed in the second row above the 18-foot wall in right-center with two outs in the fourth inning and trimmed the Angels’ lead to 5-3.

“It was awesome,” said teammate Eric Hosmer, who played with Moustakas in Triple-A and came up to the majors a month before he did. “Everyone was really happy for him. And for him to do it here in his hometown with his family watching, it was a special moment for him. He’s as big a competitor as anybody in this clubhouse. When he gets hot, there’s no turning back. These first couple of games, he’s looked really comfortable at the plate, and it’s going to be a fun ride for him from here on out.”

Cabrera narrowed the gap to 5-4 in the fifth with an RBI single.

Wells led off the Angels’ four-run second against Felipe Paulino with a single before Los Angeles loaded the bases with none out. Aybar then smacked a 1-2 pitch inside first base and down the line to clear the bases, and Maicer Izturis drove him in with a sacrifice fly.

Two of the runs were unearned, the result of a fielding error by Getz on a routine grounder to second by Callaspo.

The Angels tacked on another unearned run in the third, after Wells singled again and got to second on an errant pickoff throw by Paulino — the first error by a Royals pitcher since Jeremy Jeffress’ wild pickoff throw April 18 against Cleveland. Kendrick drove in Wells from third with an infield hit.

Associated Press

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jeff Francis survived a shaky sixth inning to get his first road victory of the season, left fielder Alex Gordon threw out a runner at home plate and the Kansas City Royals beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-2 Friday night.

Melky Cabrera and Billy Butler each hit solo homers for the Royals. Former first-round draft pick Mike Moustakas went 1 for 3 in his big league debut.

Francis (3-6) pitched 6 1/3 innings in his third start against the Angels this season, allowing two runs and eight hits after being staked to a 4-0 lead. The left-hander, who struck out three and walked one, hadn’t won a road game since beating Florida on July 20, 2010, while pitching for Colorado.

by Associated Press

After a long, tough homestand, Jeff Francoeur is ready to hit the road.

With Francoeur driving in two runs and Luke Hochevar pitching seven effective innings, the Kansas City Royals ended their longest stretch of home games Thursday with a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. It was just their fourth win in the 11-game stand at Kauffman Stadium.

Now the Royals will open a nine-game trip Friday night against the Los Angeles Angels.

“Maybe this will be good for us, to kind of get out on the road for a while and get away,” Francoeur said. “The homestand started out great, went sour and then we finished on a nice, positive note.”

Hochevar (4-6) won for the first time in seven starts and the Royals survived Joakim Soria’s shaky ninth to split the four-game series with Toronto.

Soria, reclaiming the closer role he lost May 30 after back-to-back blown saves, loaded the bases in the ninth but got his eighth save in 13 opportunities.

“It’s never easy,” Soria said. “The last couple outings, I was pitching good. This was a tough one. We got the win, that’s all that matters.”

In a move that’s certain to have fans stirring, the Royals announced after the game they were bringing up third baseman Mike Moustakas, their 2007 first-round draft pick, and letting him make his much-anticipated major league debut against the Angels. He’ll also be reunited with first baseman Eric Hosmer, the 2008 first-round pick who was brought up on May 6 and has been the Royals’ best hitter.

“I’m really excited. One of my best friends in professional baseball,” Hosmer said. “It’s going to be fun. We’ve been texting back and forth.”

Edwin Encarnacion and Juan Rivera hit one-out singles off Soria, a two-time All-Star, and then Mike McCoy, after being down 0-2, drew his fourth walk of the day to load the bases with two outs. But Soria got Corey Patterson on an infield popup, giving the Royals their fifth win in 19 games.

Hochevar allowed two runs in the fourth but nothing else in seven innings. The right-hander gave up six hits, walked three and struck out three for his first win in seven starts since May 1.

“You never want to go through those stretches,” Hochevar said. “Sometimes they happen. You’ve just got to battle through them and stay positive and continue to pound the strike zone and do what you do.”

Ricky Romero (5-6) pitched an eight-inning complete game for Toronto, allowing three runs on eight hits, with two walks and four strikeouts.

“I hate losing, bottom line, if I got beat by 10 runs or one run,” Romero said. “I’m a competitor. I have heart. I take a lot of pride in that. I hate losing. It’s unfortunate we lost. It stinks.”

Alcides Escobar singled in the third and scored the first run on Hosmer’s soft single into right. Hosmer has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games.

Melky Cabrera then reached on a fielder’s choice and Francoeur rifled a two-run single into right as the Royals kept the Blue Jays from winning a series in Kansas City for the first time since 2003.

Francoeur was out at the plate on a strong throw from Jose Bautista after Billy Butler singled into right.

In the Blue Jays’ second, Bautista reached on a fielder’s choice, Adam Lind singled and J.P. Arencibia tripled into left field. Mitch Maier made a leap for the ball, but it hit the wall and bounced back toward center field as Lind and Bautista scored.

Aaron Hill walked, but Hochevar retired Encarnacion on a fly ball to end the inning.

The Blue Jays had runners at second and third with two out in the eighth. but Aaron Crow coaxed a grounder out of Arencibia.

Lind was 3-for-4, all singles.