OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Jon Lester won his Oakland debut while pitching into the seventh inning and Jonny Gomes got two hits during an eight-run burst in his return to the Athletics as they beat the Kansas City Royals 8-3 Saturday.

Two days after being traded from the sagging World Series champion Boston Red Sox, Lester and Gomes teamed up to boost the club with the best record in baseball.

The 6-foot-4 Lester (11-7) instantly became an imposing presence on the mound in the pitcher-friendly Coliseum. Fans in the crowd of 30,097 cheered the lefty as he went through his warmup routine in left field, then Lester tipped his cap to a roaring ovation when he left after throwing 6 2/3 innings.

Back with the AL West-leading A’s, Gomes delivered in an eight-run fifth inning. He singled and scored off Jason Vargas (8-5), then hit a hit a two-run single off Aaron Crow.

Lester gave up three runs and nine hits, walking one and striking out three.

Pitching on seven days’ rest after being scratched Wednesday ahead of the trade deadline, Lester improved to 8-3 with a 2.20 ERA in 12 career starts against the Royals. He hasn’t lost in nine starts overall since June 7 at Detroit.

The A’s went ahead with their planned promotion, passing out 10,000 Yoenis Cespedes T-shirts reading “La Potencia” — it pays tribute to his power. The two-time Home Run Derby champ was traded to Boston in the big deal.

Vargas came off the disabled list to make his first start since undergoing an appendectomy July 9. After the first 12 A’s batters were retired in order, the next 12 produced eight hits and eight runs.

Oakland lost second baseman Nick Punto when he strained his right hamstring. He rounded third on Jed Lowrie’s RBI single in the fifth, but slid toward the coach’s box and grabbed the back of his leg before hobbling back to the bag.

An inning earlier, the umpires went to replay to determine whether A’s catcher Derek Norris improperly blocked the plate when he tagged a sliding Alex Gordon. The out call was confirmed, with newly acquired center fielder Sam Fuld’s throw resulting in a sensational double play.

— Associated Press —

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Raul Ibanez homered to break his own franchise record for oldest Royals player to clear the fences, and Kansas City beat the Oakland Athletics 1-0 on Friday night.

The 42-year-old Ibanez connected in the fifth inning for his fifth homer, giving Jeremy Guthrie the lone run he needed for Kansas City’s first victory at the Oakland Coliseum since April 10, 2012. The Royals went 1-5 against the A’s last season, including 0-3 on the road.

Guthrie (7-9) struck out six in six innings to win his second straight outing following a three-start skid as the Royals beat the team with baseball’s best record for their third straight win and eighth in 10. It could get tougher Saturday, when Jon Lester makes his A’s debut two days after being traded by the Boston Red Sox.

The A’s struggled to get anything going and lost for the third time in four games a day after trading slugging left fielder Yoenis Cespedes to the Red Sox for Lester and Jonny Gomes.

Sam Fuld started in center field and batted leadoff one day after returning to Oakland where he began the season following a trade from Minnesota. His leadoff double in the fourth was the first hit off fellow ex-Stanford player Guthrie.

Guthrie struck out the side in the sixth, retiring Brandon Moss and Jed Lowrie on consecutive called third strikes.

Sonny Gray (12-4) hung tough in a pitcher’s duel with Guthrie. The right-hander struck out seven in seven innings and didn’t walk a batter for the first time all year.

He had his five-start winning streak snapped with his first losing decision in eight outings dating to a June 13 home loss against the Yankees.

He had five or more strikeouts in each of his five July outings, going 5-0 with a 1.03 ERA for the month.

Nori Aoki doubled leading off the game and advanced on a wild pitch, but Gray retired the next three batters in order to avoid damage.

Greg Holland followed scoreless innings by Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis for his 30th save in 32 chances.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alcides Escobar hit a two-run triple and Yordano Ventura pitched seven effective innings as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Minnesota Twins 6-3 Thursday.

Escobar’s triple highlighted a four-run seventh. The inning also included Jarrod Dyson’s run-scoring single. Dyson stole second and third and scored on catcher Eric Fryer’s throwing error.

Ventura (8-8) limited the Twins to two runs, one earned, on five hits, while striking out seven.

Danny Santana led off the game with a home run. Mike Moustakas committed two throwing errors in the third to gift the Twins with an unearned run.

Caleb Thielbar (2-1) retired only one of three batters he faced for Minnesota.

Twins right-hander Kevin Correia, who had yielded 11 runs on 17 hits and five walks in eight innings in losing his previous two starts, left after six innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits. His 13 losses top the American League.

Kurt Suzuki hit a pinch RBI-double in the eighth off Wade Davis, the first extra-base the Royals right-hander allowed in 46 innings. Greg Holland worked a flawless ninth for his 29th save in 31 opportunities.

The Twins stranded 11 runners, leaving the bases loaded in the fourth and eighth and stranding two runners in two other innings.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Danny Duffy trudged off the mound with the bases loaded and his team trailing by a run, and took a seat in the dugout to watch Jason Frasor try to bail him out.

He roared when the Royals reliever struck out Chris Colabello to end the threat.

“He came through with flying colors,” Duffy said with a smile.

Buoyed by the clutch pitching, Kansas City churned out three doubles in the bottom half of the inning Wednesday night, scoring all their runs in an eventual 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

“Frasor was huge with the bases loaded,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Just about everybody who stepped on the mound for Kansas City came up big.

Duffy allowed only a homer by Josh Willingham over 5 2/3 innings, despite walking a season-high six. Scott Downs and Kelvin Herrera gave back a run in the seventh, but Herrera struck out Brian Dozier and Willingham with runners on second and third to preserve the Royals’ one-run lead.

Wade Davis worked a perfect eighth, and All-Star closer Greg Holland survived two wild pitches that sent Eduardo Nunez to third base by striking out Sam Fuld for his 28th save.

“Anytime you lose a battle like that it’s frustrating, especially with game on line,” Fuld said. “Holland made a great pitch. We battled him.”

The Twins’ Phil Hughes (10-8) showed no lingering effects from a comebacker off his right ankle that cut short his last outing. He allowed only three singles before the sixth, when the Royals were able to finally string together a series of hits that gave them the lead.

Omar Infante led off the sixth with a single and Salvador Perez added a tying double moments later. Alex Gordon followed with an RBI double to center, and Mike Moustakas pulled another run-scoring double just inside the first-base line to give Kansas City a 3-1 lead.

The Royals’ bullpen and defense made each run seem huge.

Perez made the first of several memorable plays in the third inning, when he picked Nunez off first base with a snap throw. Duffy picked Fuld off first in the fourth, and Dozier was thrown out at the plate on a base-running mistake later in the inning.

“I’m trying to make an aggressive play,” Dozier said.

Perez’s best play may have come in the seventh, when he leaped from the behind the plate to grab a sacrifice bunt and throw the runner out at first. Herrera followed with his strikeouts to leave the go-ahead run standing on second.

“That was a big play right there,” Yost said. “That was a great play by Sal.”

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Even after a lengthy replay, Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire still thinks the call was wrong.

No worry. When he was ejected for arguing the play in the third inning Tuesday night, it gave him a nice vantage point — a flat-screen TV and a comfy chair in the clubhouse — to see Kyle Gibson shut down the Kansas City Royals for seven innings in a tense 2-1 victory.

The play in question was Chris Parmelee’s sinking liner to left field that Alex Gordon appeared to trap while sliding. The umpires ruled it a catch, though, likely saving a run. Gardenhire quickly challenged it, only to be incensed when a review of 3 minutes, 31 seconds let it stand.

A nose-to-nose confrontation with plate umpire Ted Barrett resulted in him getting tossed.

“Honestly, I know you’re not supposed to go out there. I just wanted to find out how that happened,” Gardenhire said. “That’s the part a lot of managers are trying to figure out, what did they see? I know they don’t want it to go any longer, but it’s gone on long enough.

“I was just looking for an explanation. He threw me out really quick. He was really hot.”

Gibson was hot in an entirely different way.

He allowed a single by Alcides Escobar in the third inning and another by Nori Aoki in the sixth over seven dazzling innings. Gibson (9-8) was at his best his last inning, too, setting down the Royals in order in the seventh on four seemingly effortless pitches.

“I had a great view for it,” Gardenhire said with a smile.

Casey Fien worked the eighth before Glen Perkins ran into trouble in the ninth, giving up a leadoff double to Omar Infante and an RBI single to Eric Hosmer. Perkins bounced back to get three straight pop outs and record his 26th save of the season.

“The loss is frustrating in general. It doesn’t matter how it is,” the Royals’ Billy Butler said. “It’s not fun to lose, especially in a 2-1 game like that. We should have put up more runs.”

Josh Willingham hit a sacrifice fly in the third inning and Brian Dozier provided a run-scoring single in the fifth off James Shields (9-6), who battled command all night. He threw 124 pitches — two shy of his career high — while walking four in only six innings.

Gibson, who was shelled by Tampa Bay his last time out, has made a habit of rebounding back from ugly outings. He followed a miserable performance against the Angels with a strong one against Texas, and a lousy start against the Yankees with six shutout innings against Seattle.

“I don’t know what it was tonight,” he said. “I just had a lot of confidence.”

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hall of Famers Reggie Jackson and Jim Rice didn’t do it. Neither did Mark McGwire, Albert Pujols, Jim Thome, Barry Bonds nor any other opposing slugger who played at Kansas City.

Carlos Santana hit five home runs in a series at spacious Kauffman Stadium, connecting for two more shots Sunday and leading the Cleveland Indians over the Royals 10-3.

Santana tied a team record for homers in a series, finishing off this four-game set with a pair of two-run shots. He has homered in three straight games, and has hit six home runs in six games.

“I know I’m hot, but I’m taking the same approach,” Santana said. “This can happen in this game when a player gets focused. It’s a help to the team.”

Santana and the Indians ended a four-game losing skid and stopped the Royals’ five-game winning streak.

Santana went 3 for 3 and reached base in all five plate appearances, including drawing his major league-leading 72nd walk. The switch-hitter homered in a four-run fifth inning and hit another drive in the ninth for his fifth career multihomer game and his second of the series.

“It was pretty impressive to watch,” teammate Mike Aviles said. “Everybody knows how big he can be. He was able to drive some balls out of the park consistently from both sides.”

“Watching him all season, he has an unbelievable eye. I know his average isn’t where he wants it to be, but he got off to a slow start. But even through his struggles early in the year, he was able to find ways to get on base. You knew with a guy like him it was only a matter of time before he got back on pace.”

In his past six games, Santana is 14 for 23, including three doubles and 10 RBIs.

“He’s hot as a firecracker,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He’s hitting home runs right-handed. He’s hitting home runs left-handed.”

Ryan Raburn and Yan Gomes also homered for the Indians, who had lost six straight at Kauffman Stadium.

Danny Salazar (3-4) gave up three runs and seven hits over seven innings. He walked none and struck out seven.

Bruce Chen (2-3) allowed up six runs and eight hits in five-plus innings.

Nick Swisher hit an RBI single in the Indians seventh to end an 0-for-21 streak.

Billy Butler had three hits for the Royals, including an RBI double. He had homered in his previous two games, but Santana equaled Butler’s season home run total in the series.

“Santana has got a lot of pop,” Butler said. “He’s in one of those zones. A lot of guys get hot, but don’t hit four homers in a series. Five, sorry, I missed one. It just shows you how impressive it is. He’s very talented, a very strong guy.”

Santana is the first player to hit five home runs in a series since Hunter Pence for San Francisco against the Dodgers last September.

Santana tied an Indians record for most home runs in a series. The others were Hal Trosky (1934), Joe Carter (1989), Albert Belle (1995), Matt Williams (1997) and Travis Hafner (2004). Hafner did it in two-game series against the Angels.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Billy Butler homered for the second straight game and the Kansas City Royals overcame a five-run deficit to beat Cleveland 7-5 Saturday night for their fifth straight win.

A day after his pinch-hit, two-run homer in the eighth inning beat Cleveland, Butler connected for a tiebreaking shot in the fifth. It was 5-all when he tagged Nick Hagadone for a drive over the Royals’ bullpen in left field.

Carlos Santana hit his third homer in two games for Cleveland, which has lost six of seven.

Jeremy Guthrie (6-9) won despite giving up five runs on 10 hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. Greg Holland, the fourth Kansas City reliever, got his 27th save in 29 chances.

Zach McAllister (3-6) couldn’t hold a 5-0 lead. He gave up a single to Salvador Perez to start the fifth and was replaced by Hagadone.

Guthrie had lost his previous three starts. He has an 8.44 ERA in three starts this season against the Indians.

The Indians scored five times in the second. Santana led off with a home run and Jason Kipnis broke an 0-for-11 rut with a two-run double.

Santana is 12 for 25 with six RBIs in his last six games.

McAllister, just brought up from Triple-A Columbus after going 5-0 with a 2.23 ERA, faced 22 batters and 10 reached base. After starting the season 3-0, he is 0-6 in nine starts.

Omar Infante had an RBI grounder in the third and the Royals tied it with four more in fourth. Nori Aoki hit a two-run triple with two outs and scored on a passed ball to tie it.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Pinch-hitter Billy Butler’s two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning sent the Kansas City Royals over the Cleveland Indians 6-4 Friday night for their fourth straight win.

Carlos Santana homered twice for the Indians, who have lost five of six.

Butler connected against John Axford, sending a drive over the Royals’ bullpen in left field. Butler was hitting just .200 in his previous 20 games with two RBIs.

The Royals won a game of matchup moves. After Salvador Perez singled with one out in the eighth off Carlos Carrasco (3-4), reliever Nick Hagadone entered and got the second out.

Butler batted for Raul Ibanez and homered on Axford’s second pitch.

Earlier in the game, Ibanez at 42 drove in a run when became the oldest player to hit a triple in Royals’ history. Ibanez scored on the play when second baseman Jason Kipnis made a wild relay throw.

Kelvin Herrera (2-2) pitched a scoreless eighth and Aaron Crow worked around a leadoff double in the ninth to earn his second save in four chances.

Royals closer Greg Holland, who had pitched in the three previous games, was unavailable.

Perez, who had three hits, and Mike Moustakas had back-to-back home runs to open the second. It was the second time this season Perez and Moustakas hit consecutive homers, having also done it April 23 at Cleveland.

Royals rookie Yordano Ventura, tagged for six runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings in his previous start at Boston, departed after 6 1/3 innings. He gave up three earned runs and struck out seven.

Santana hit a solo homer in the fourth and a two-run shot in the sixth.

Indians right-hander Josh Tomlin, who was 1-5 in his previous seven starts, was pulled after 5 1/3 innings.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Nori Aoki singled home Lorenzo Cain in the 14th inning to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 2-1 win over Cleveland after Indians starter Corey Kluber carried a perfect game into the seventh inning on Thursday night.

Cain opened the 14th with an infield single and stole second before Aoki delivered the winning hit off John Axford on a full-count pitch with one out.

Aaron Crow (5-1), the seventh Kansas City pitcher, earned the victory — striking out the side in a perfect 14th.

Left-hander Marc Rzepcynski (0-3), who gave up the hit to Cain, took the loss.

Kluber held the Royals to two hits, retiring the first 19 batters he faced before Omar Infante, who was in a 0-for-16 skid, lined a single to center with one out in the seventh.

Mike Moustakas doubled and scored on a throwing error by left fielder Ryan Raburn in the eighth inning to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. Moustakas hit a fly ball down the left-field line that Raburn nearly caught. When Raburn tracked down the ball in foul territory, he spiked a throw that rolled into center field.

The Indians tied it in the ninth off Greg Holland, who blew his second save in 28 chances. Holland walked Carlos Santana leading off the inning, and pinch-hitter Chris Dickerson bunted him to second. Gomes’ two-out single to center scored Santana.

After Infante’s hit, Kluber got out of the inning when Alex Gordon struck out, and Infante was thrown out trying to steal second.

Kluber, who allowed only one unearned run in nine innings, struck out 10 and walked none.

Royals starter Danny Duffy, who was 1-5 in his previous six starts, gave up two singles — both to Santana — in seven scoreless innings. Duffy, who also walked two, was pulled after 108 pitches.

Duffy lowered his earned run average to 2.47. He is the only American League pitcher with a losing record with an ERA less than three.

Wade Davis, who replaced Duffy, pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth. With one out, he permitted singles to Jose Ramirez and pinch-hitter David Murphy sandwiched around a walk to Jason Kipnis. Davis then got Michael Brantley to ground into an inning-ending double play.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — It took a hard slide for the Kansas City Royals to end their skid.

Mike Moustakas scored the tie-breaking run when he jarred the ball out of the catcher’s glove in the ninth inning and the Royals beat the White Sox 2-1 Wednesday to take the three-game series.

Kansas City was victorious for the 12th time in their last 14 starts at U.S. Cellular Field. They also won consecutive games for the first time since July 2-4. They are 5-10 since then.

“I feel a lot better leaving Chicago than I did after the first game in Chicago,” manager Ned Yost said. “After the problems you run into, you can’t lose faith. You can’t start panicking. You can’t think the ship is sinking. You’ve got to stay positive, because these guys have the ability to fight through it and get themselves out of it.”

Moustakas triggered the decisive rally with a lead-off single off Zach Putnam (3-2), the last of four White Sox pitchers. Alcides Escobar bunted him over before Nori Aoki hit a flare to center field.

Adam Eaton’s strong throw beat Moustakas to the plate, but catcher Tyler Flowers lost control of the ball upon contact. Flowers was charged with an error on the play.

“With the (new) rules, you kind of have to obey them,” said Moustakas, who was at a four-inch, 30-pound disadvantage in the matchup. “You don’t really think about trying to truck anybody. That’s a big boy behind home plate there. It’s probably not a good idea to go that route.”

Flowers said he thought he had the ball.

“The replay looked like his knee on impact was literally straight into the webbing of the glove,” Flowers said. “I wish I could have hung onto it, but there’s nothing I could do different.”

Yost liked the jump off second base as much as the slide itself.

“(Moustakas) got a tremendous read on Nori’s base hit,” Yost said. “If he doesn’t get the read that he had, he doesn’t have the opportunity to score.”

Wade Davis (6-2) pitched one scoreless inning and Greg Holland retired the side in order in the ninth inning for his 26th save in 27 tries.

After the teams traded runs in the first inning, starters James Shields and Jose Quintana matched each other for six scoreless innings. Neither was overwhelming, but both were able to get key outs when necessary.

“(Shields) has the ability to make big pitches in crucial situations,” Yost said. “That’s why he’s our ace.”

Shields allowed six hits in seven innings He walked one batter and struck out seven.

“I just try to go out there every five days and pitch my game no matter where I’m at,” Shields said.

In seven innings, Quintana gave up seven hits and two walks and struck out three batters. He remained winless (0-5) against the Royals in 11 career starts.

The no decision was the 36th for Quintana since the 2012 season, the most in the majors.

Chicago’s Adam Dunn singled to tie the score at 1-1 in the first inning. The hit scored Jose Abreu, who had doubled with two outs. Abreu (sore back) was back in action after a one-game layoff.

Eric Hosmer’s sacrifice fly gave the Royals a 1-0 lead.

— Associated Press —