A’s win series over Royals 5-1

Maybe all the A’s ever needed was a little home cooking.

After nine consecutive losses, most of them on the road, the A’s have now come back with two convincing home wins against the Kansas City Royals. Tonight, Luis Medina was the best player with his best start and first win of the season.

With the 5-1 victory, the A’s have won a series for the first time since May 21-23, when they ²⁄₃ at home against the Colorado Rockies. The A’s did a good job tonight and, unlike their previous series against the Minnesota Twins, scored a few runs throughout the game.

Just like in last night’s win, the A’s started the game in the third with back-to-back RBI singles from Miguel Andujar and Brent Rooker.

The Royals cut the lead in half in the fifth inning thanks to an RBI double by Bobby Witt Jr., but that was their only threat of the night. The Royals got their leadoff runner on base only once other than in the fifth inning, including in the fourth inning when Andujar struck out Salvador Perez at second base trying to turn a leadoff single into a double.

Medina deserves credit for holding the Royals offense in check for 5.2 innings, allowing six hits and just one run while allowing three strikeouts and two walks.

The A’s scored two more runs in the seventh inning with a runner on first base. Three consecutive singles by Andujar, Rooker and Tyler Nevin extended the A’s lead to 4-1.

It was another day of being the A’s offensive catalyst for Andujar, who is now batting .330 on the season after a 3/5 performance tonight. He also has ten multiple-hit games in 22 total games. Rooker is also a credit – he was ²⁄₃ at bat. The rest of the A’s team only had three hits.

Tonight, however, that didn’t matter, as the A’s bullpen overcame Medina’s strong performance and finished the game strong. Dany Jimenez got the minimum in the seventh inning and Austin Adams followed suit, getting two strikeouts in the scoreless eighth inning and striking out Mason Miller in the ninth.

However, it would not be a safe situation for Miller tonight. Zack Gelof scored a fifth run in the eighth inning with a no-doubter to center.

For a minute, it looked like Scott Alexander might be up in the ninth inning as there were no saves, but Mark Kotsay singled to go with Miller for the second straight game. Miller took a walk to lead off, but battled back to get two strikeouts and secure the win.

These are the A’s first consecutive wins since early May, and they’re looking to pull off the sweep tomorrow. Mitch Spence starts against Seth Lugo, who is 10-2 this season. First pitch is at 12:37 p.m. PDT.