By Charlie O. Mallonee

OAKLAND — The Kansas City Royals snapped a six-game losing streak on Saturday when they shutout the Oakland Athletics 2-0 to win their first game of the four-game series between the two clubs. The A’s beat the Royals on Thursday and Friday.

This game was all about pitching. For the Royals, their starter — LHP Danny Duffy — pitched well above his record for the season on Saturday. Duffy came into the contest with a record of 2-6 with a 5.81 ERA in 13 starts. He was coming off a loss on Monday to the Angels in Los Angeles where he lasted only 5.0 innings.

On Saturday versus Oakland, Duffy pitched 7.0 innings, giving up no runs off just three hits. Duffy walked three and while striking out 10 batters. The 10 strikeouts were his most in a game since May 18, 2017.

Even though Oakland lost the game, they had quite a pitching story of their own. RHP Chris Bassitt made the start for the Athletics which was his first major league start since May 6, 2016. Bassitt had to undergo the dreaded UCL reconstruction surgery — better known as “Tommy John Surgery.” The rehabilitation from that procedure is long and arduous. Bassitt surprised everyone by pitching seven strong innings today against the Royals even though he was saddled with the loss.

On the Hill

Kansas City (22-33)

• Danny Duffy picked up the win and is now 3-6 for the year. He lowered his ERA from 5.81 to 5.28 in his shutout victory.
• Duffy threw 98 pitches — 63 strikes
• Kevin McCarthy worked the eighth inning for the Royals. It was a perfect three up – three down inning with one strikeout.
• Kelvin Herrera came in to close out the game in the ninth. He did allow one base hit but retired the side and picked up his 14th save of the season. Herrera has appeared in 18 of the Royals’ 22 wins this year.

Oakland (33-32)

• Chris Bassitt threw 93 pitches (63 strikes) in his seven innings on the hill. He posted six strikeouts and walked just one batter. The only run he gave up was earned. Bassitt’s record stands at 0-1.
• Danny Coulombe pitched the eighth inning for Oakland. It was a 1, 2, 3 inning that included a strikeout for the reliever.
• Yusmeiro Petit was tapped to work the ninth inning for the Athletics. With one out, Alex Gordon hit a home run to right field to give the Royals a 2-0 cushion. Petit walked the next batter but then induced the following two hitters to fly out to end the inning.

In the Batter’s Box

Royals (5th place AL Central)

• Alex Gordon’s ninth-inning home run snapped 14-game homerless streak dating back to May 22 versus St. Louis.
• Call Hunter Dozier “the Road King”. He has reached base in each of his last nine road games. On Saturday, he did it via a base-on-balls.
• Paul Orlando hit a single in the second inning which ended 0-for-14 hitless streak for him.
• Mike Moustakas became the 13th player to play 900 career games with the Royals with his appearance on Saturday.

Athletics (4th place AL West)

• Matt Chapman had a three-hit game which was his third of the season and sixth of his career.
• Jed Lowrie is now 0-for-13 after going 0-for-4 on Saturday.
• Oakland was shutout for the sixth time this year which matches their total from last season.
• The A’s were 0-for-7 with Runners In Scoring Position.
• The Athletics left seven runners on base.

Hits vs Strikeouts watch

KC

On Saturday, the Royals collected four hits and struck out seven times.

Oakland

Your A’s also posted four hits while striking out a total of 13 times.

Up Next

The four-game series and the season-series between the Royals and the A’s will come to an end on Sunday at 1:05 P.M. at the Oakland Coliseum. The Royals will send RHP Brad Keller (1-2, 2.12 ERA) to mound to face the A’s LHP Sean Manaea (5-6, 3.59). Keller lost his last outing in Los Angeles to the Angels on Tuesday night 1-0. Manaea had a no-decision in his last start in Texas on Tuesday night. The A’s eventually lost that game 7-4.