Cotton Dazzles As A's Spoil Royals' Home Opener With 2-0 Win
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Khris Davis hit a two-run homer, Jharel Cotton shut down Kansas City's anemic offense and the Oakland Athletics held on to spoil the Royals' home opener with a 2-0 victory Monday.
Cotton (1-1) gave up a single in the first and another in the sixth, but otherwise befuddled a Royals lineup that hasn't shown much punch. He walked three and struck out six over seven innings.
Santiago Casilla struck out the side in the eighth before Sean Doolittle ran into trouble in the ninth, putting runners on the corners with two outs. He bounced back to strike out Brandon Moss for his first save, helping the A's beat the Royals for the seventh consecutive time.
Davis provided all the offense Oakland needed when he followed a leadoff single by Ryon Healy with his fourth homer of the year. The shot to right on a 3-0 pitch from Ian Kennedy (0-2) barely scraped the wall, but it gave Cotton the only help he needed a sun-splashed afternoon.
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