By Matthew Harrington

The Oakland Athletics fell victim to the hottest team in baseball Monday night, wasting a Sonny Gray gem to fall to the Kansas City Royals 3-2 at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals (64-53) knocked in a run in the first two innings each before Brandon Moss answered backed with a bases-loaded two-run single to knot the game at 2-2 in the third. With two outs in the seventh inning and fighting a losing battle with an 0-2 count, Alcides Escobar singled Nori Aoki home to give the Royals a 3-2 lead. Escobar finished the night with two runs batted, both coming on singles with two outs.

The tight-fisted trio Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and closer Greg Holland followed manager Ned Yost’s atypical final inning game plan, all pitching a scoreless inning apiece for one of the best bullpens in the major leagues. Herrera (3-2, 1.62 ERA) earned the win for his unblemished seventh inning while Holland converted his 35th save despite putting runners on first and second base with no outs. A double-play off the bat of Derek Norris and a Stephen Vogt fly ball to right field wrapped up Kansas City’s eighth-straight win.

Gray (12-6, 2.86) wound up the hard-luck loser, turning in one of his best performances of the season but hitting the showers empty-handed. The baby-faced ace went seven strong innings, allowing only two earned runs while scattering only six hits. Yordano Ventura, the Royals starter Monday evening, also performed exemplary. He yielded only two hits to A’s batters in his six innings, compiling five punch-outs and four walks.

The loss comes with a bittersweet round of news for the A’s (72-46). With the Tigers scuffling amidst the resurgent Royals run, Kansas now holds sole possession of the top record in the American League Central. The boys in blue have ousted Oakland’s playoff nemesis of the previous two seasons, placing the injury-plagued Motor City Kitties on track to play in the sudden-death wild card playoff game.

Tuesday night the A’s call upon Jon Lester to replicate his recent success. The lefty, acquired from Boston for Yoenis Cespedes at the July 31st trade deadline, pitched a complete-game shutout against the Minnesota Twins at the O.Co Coliseum last Thursday night. He’ll be opposed by Jeremy Guthrie.