By Morris Phillips

After scoring seven runs all weekend and getting swept by the Royals, the A’s were in a matter-of-fact mood after Sunday’s 5-3 loss. The five-game win streak they carried into the weekend was a distant memory, and they’ve still got a bunch of work to do to rejoin the best teams in the league. And that process didn’t get a jumpstart this weekend.

“We just don’t all of a sudden after five games lose our intensity and our focus,” manager Bob Melvin said when asked what caused his A’s to lose the momentum of the win streak. “We just got beat. They played better than we did.”

“That’s a pretty good team over there and they came through when they needed to and we gave them extra opportunities when we shouldn’t have,” Stephen Vogt said as a piggy back to Melvin’s thoughts.

One thing’s abudantly clear: when the best and arguably hottest team in the American League comes to town, you need to be on top of your game, and the A’s cleary were not.

Start with the lack of offense, but quickly detour to the lack of quality mid-game pitching where the A’s saw their starter falter or the first reliever in the ballgame give it up. In the three games after the fifth inning, the Royals scored eight of their 13 runs. On Sunday, Jesse Chavez was cruising, leading 2-0, when the Royals struck for a three-spot. Max Muncey’s errant throw home allowed Mike Moustakas to score the initial Kansas City run, as well allowing two other baserunners advance.

Muncey’s error opened the door, but the Royals took it from there with Alex Rios’ run-scoring, sacrifice fly and Omar Infante’s RBI single. Just like that, the A’s were trailing 3-2.

After that, the A’s offensive struggles once again ran square into the Royals’ red-hot bullpen, and the results were predictable. The A’s did manage two hits and a run off Kelvin Hererra in the eighth, but closer Wade Davis closed the door in the ninth, befitting his microscopic 0.27 ERA.

The Oakland bullpen had a much rougher ride as Edward Mujica pitched the eighth only to allow Salvador Perez’s two-run homer that gave Kansas City a 5-2 lead and stood as the difference in the game. The A’s have dropped 30 of the 40 games they’ve been in decided by two runs or less.

The A’s went without the key hit for almost the entirety of the three-game series. Oakland batters were 1 for 17 with runners in scoring position.

Billy Burns returned to the A’s lineup and hit in his 16^th consecutive game. Burns had a pair of hits as did Vogt and Ben Zobrist, but that along with the A’s 11-hit total didn’t add up to much without the big hit.

Royals’ starter Jeremy Guthrie created a few situations for the A’s but he found his way out, allowing just one walk while striking out seven. Guthrie struck out Ike Davis in the second inning to give him 1,000 K’s in his big league career.

Kendall Graveman gets the start on Monday at the Coliseum when the Rockies visit for a three-game set. David Hale is scheduled to get the start for Colorado for the 7:15 start.