Triggs Pitches 6 Shutout Innings, Athletics Stop Royals 8-3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Andrew Triggs pitched six shutout innings, Jed Lowrie drove in three runs and the Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals 8-3 Wednesday night.
Triggs (2-0) scattered four hits and a walk, striking out three. It was the former Royals farmhand's second solid start this season, having allowed one unearned run over 5 1/3 innings against the Angels.
Triggs combined with Ryan Dull to extend the Royals' scoreless-inning streak to 19 before Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer drove in runs off reliever Liam Hendricks in the eighth. Raul Mondesi homered in the ninth.
The A's have won eight in a row over the Royals, six of those coming at Kauffman Stadium - and most of them in romps. Oakland has outscored the Royals 53-15 in the games played in Kansas City.
Jason Hammel (0-1) gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks before getting yanked with two outs in the fifth.
Travis Wood and Chris Young allowed four more runs in another embarrassing show by the Royals' bullpen, which hardly resembles the group that led them to the 2015 World Series title.
Then again, their performance was moot the way the offense was sputtering.
Triggs got an inning-ending double play to escape the first, then stranded a runner at third in the second before cruising through the next four innings. By the time the Royals squandered a leadoff double in the fourth, they had gone 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position for the second straight game.
OAKLAND RAISES TARP
The A's announced the tarps covering third-deck seats at the Coliseum will be removed ahead of a 10-game homestand beginning Friday night against Houston. The move frees up about 12,000 seats that cost $15 each, bringing the total capacity to 47,170. The tarps have been used since 2006.
ALEX IN RIGHT
The Royals' Alex Gordon started in RF for the first time since 2010 and only the fourth time in 1,282 big league games. The reason was to get Brandon Moss into the lineup in LF, where he's more comfortable, and Cheslor Cuthbert's bat in the lineup as DH. Moss and Cuthbert combined to go 0 for 8.
ROSTER MOVES
The Royals recalled LHP Scott Alexander and RHP Jake Junis from Triple-A Omaha to reinforce their struggling bullpen. Alexander pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, while Junis loaded the bases in the ninth before getting a double play to end it.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Kansas City OF Jorge Soler (left oblique strain) hit in the cage before the game and could take live batting practice Friday. That would put him on pace to begin a rehab assignment next week.
UP NEXT
Athletics: RHP Jesse Hahn makes his first start of the season in Thursday night's series finale. He pitched six innings in relief in a 10-5 loss at Texas last week.
Royals: LHP Jason Vargas makes his fifth start since Tommy John surgery in 2015. He earned his first win since June of that year in a 5-1 victory at Houston last week.
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