Oakland A’s Brent Rooker (25) turns third base to score the A’s only run of the game against the Kansas City Royals at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City on Sun May 7, 2023 (@Athletics photo)

Oakland’s Relief Pitching Struggles in Loss to Kansas City 5-1

By Barbara Mason

The Kansas City Royals (9-26) hosted the Oakland Athletics (8-27) in game three of their three game series Sunday afternoon at Kaufman Stadium in Kanas City.

The A’s took the first two games in this series and were lookin for that sweep but they just couldn’t seal the deal losing to the Royals 5-1. Mason Miller who started for the A’s finished with six innings pitched giving up five hits and two earned runs and striking out five hitters.

The Royals took a 1-0 lead into the fourth inning where the A’s tied up the game 1-1. Salvador Perez got the Royals up on the board in the first inning with a solo home run.

Ramon Laureano hit an infield single in the fourth inning that drove Brent Rooker home for the tie. Kansas city answered in the same inning when Maikel Garcia singled Salvador Perez home to take back the lead 2-1.

The 2-1 Royals lead persisted into the eighth inning where Kansas City broke this game wide open leading 5-1. Nick Pratto doubled driving MJ Melendez and Salvador Perez home. Michael Massey sacrificed sending Pratto home for the 5-1 score which was the final and Kansas City had avoided the sweep.

The Royals had outhit the A’s in this game 9-4. Oakland’s relief pitching was the culprit in this one. Again Shintaro Fujinami had a tough game going 1.1 innings and allowing four hits and three runs. He had a rough game one going 0.1 innings with three earned runs.

The A’s will now travel to New York for the ultimate showdown, a series with the Yankees. This will be a tough series for the green and gold. It will certainly test their limits. JP Sears (0-2 ERA 5.06) will take the mound for Oakland and Nestor Cortes (3-2 ERA 4.91) will start for New York. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 PM.