Kansas City Royals’ Alcides Escobar, right, celebrates with Drew Butera after scoring against the Oakland Athletics during the ninth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

by Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND- The A’s and Royal played another entertaining game as they beat the A’s 7-6 to take the series two games to one. There were a lot of mood swing for the fans as the A’s fell behind then regained the lead only to fall behind once more. The Royals surged to a 5-2 lead, but the A’s came back to close the gap to one. The Royals increased the lead to two, but the A’s came back for the third time to tie the game at six in the eighth. The Royals took the lead for good in the ninth, but the A’s still made an effort to tie the game. They had a chance, but the Royals were able to close out the game.

The Royals jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. WIth one out, Blackburn walked Lorenzo Cain. Eric Hosmer hit into a 4-6 force play, and he was safe at first as the A’s couldn’t complete the double play. Melky Cabrera singled sending Hosmer to third, and Mike Moustakas drove him in with an infield single.

Blackburn worked out a tight situation in the third.Lorenzo Cain singled to start the frame. He walked Eric Hosmer, and Melky Cabrera singled to load the bases with no out. Blackburn struck out the very dangerous Mike Moustakas for the first out and then got Brandon Moss, a former Athletic and a hitter with a lot of power, to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat. In the bottom of the inning, the A’s took the lead for the first time in the game. Royals’ starter Danny Duffy walked the leadoff hitter catcher Dustin Garneau. Duffy stuck out Rajai Davis for the first out. Duffy did not fare well against Marcus Semien as Semien blasted his 5th of the year over the scoreboard in left field to give the A’s a 2-1 lead.

The lead didn’t last long as the Royals plated three runs in the fourth. Alcides Escobar led off with an infield single. Matt Chapman, attempting to throw out the speedy Escobar threw the ball past first base and down the right field foul territory. Escobar motored all the way to third as the A’s didn’t get the ball back to the infield quickly.  The error ended a five-game errorless streak for the A’s who are the worst fielding team in all of baseball this year.Drew Butera singled to drive in Escobar with the tying run. The Royals untied the game when Lorenzo Cain blasted his thirteenth homer of the year to give the Royals a 4-2 advantage.

The Royals kept the pressure on as they added another run in the fifth. A’s manager Bob Melvin brought in Simon Castro to pitch. For Blackburn, the four innings pitched was the shortest outing of his big-league career. Mike Moustakas singled and went to second when Castro walked Alcides Escobar. Alex Gordon, mired in a season-long funk, singled to drive in Moustakas. Castro retired the next two hitters to end the inning. The Royals lead by three 5-2 in the middle of the fifth. The A’s rallied to put two more runs on the board and made it a one-run game 5-4. Dustin Garneau started the rally by walking for the second time. He went to third on the double by Rajai Davis, and both scored when Jed Lowrie singled.

The Royals tacked on an insurance run in the eighth. Ryan Dull was now pitching for Oakland. Dull walked Drew Butera to start the inning. Whit Merrifield hit into a force out. Merrifield promptly stole second. Dull hit Cain with a pitch to put two men on with one out. Eric Hosmer drove in Merrifield with a single. Dull retired Cabrera and Brandon Moss to end the inning. The young A’s came back and tied the game in the bottom of the eighth. Ryan Healy started the rally with his first hit of the day, a single to right. A’s third baseman Matt Chapman atoned for making an error earlier in the day when he blasted a 418-foot dinger way over the fence in left-center field. The A’s loaded the bases with two out, but Royals’ reliever Brandon Maurer was able to retire Semien on a ground out. The score is tied at 6 after eight.

The Royals wasted no time breaking the tie. In the ninth, with Blake Treinen pitching, the Royals regained the lead. Treinen, who did not have a good night on Tuesday, gave up a double to the leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar. For Escobar, it was his third hit of the day and his fourth time on base. The next hitter Alex Gordon, who is hitting a woeful a buck ninety-eight, singled to drive in Escobar. Treinen finished the inning with no further damage. Kelvin Herrera, making his first appearance of the series, Escobar retired the first two hitters on fly balls to center. Ryon Healy reached on an infield single. It was a very close play at first, and the Royals challenged the call. After a 2 minute and twenty-five minute delay, the review upheld the call. Healy went to second on a wild pitch but was left stranded as Herrera struck out Chad Pinder to end the game. The Royals win the rubber game of the series 7-6.

Game Notes- It was a huge win for the Royals as they increased their record to 61-59. They were a game behind the Los Angeles Angels for the second Wild Card slot in the American League. The Angels beat the Washington Nationals on Wednesday and with the win, the Royals did not lose ground.

The line score for the Royals was seven runs on fourteen hits and one error. The A’s line was six runs on twelve hits, and they made one error, too. Kelvin Herrera recorded his 26th save of the season, and Blake Treinen absorbed the loss. The A’s hit two home runs Wednesday. Marcus Semien hit one in the second, and Matt Chapman hit his ninth of the year in the eighth.

The A’s used five pitchers in the game as did the Royals.

The A’s are off Thursday as they travel to Houston, Texas to face the Astros for three games over the weekend. Sean Manaea will pitch on Friday, Kendall Graveman on Saturday, and Jharel Cotton on Sunday. The Astros have not announced who will be their starting pitchers for the series.

Time of game was three hours and thirty-seven minutes and 15,239 people were on hand on a nice sunny day in Oakland.