A's 5, Royals 3
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Josh Reddick hit a three-run homer, Stephen Vogt added a solo shot and right-hander Sonny Gray threw six solid innings as the Oakland A's snapped their four-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
Gray (2-1) allowed two runs (one earned) and seven hits. He struck out six, walked one and threw a season-high 114 pitches, beating the Royals for the first time in his career after going 0-2 in his first three starts.
Reddick gave the A's a 3-1 lead in the first inning with his third home run of the season and Vogt made it 5-2 with a leadoff homer in the seventh, his second overall and second in two games.
The Royals had won four straight games this season, five straight at the Coliseum and eight of nine overall against the A's before falling.
The A's won for just the second time in nine home games this year.
Royals right-hander Chris Young (0-3) lasted only four innings in his third start and remained winless. He gave up four runs and eight hits, struck out two, walked two and left after throwing 89 pitches.
In Young's previous start, Young six runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings in an 8-2 loss to Houston.
A's right-hander John Axford pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings, left-hander Sean Doolittle retired the only batter he faced and Ryan Madson gave up an unearned run in the ninth against his former team but got his third save of the season.
Vogt, first baseman Yonder Alonso and catcher Josh Phegley each had two of the A's 10 hits.
Right fielder Raymond Fuentes had three hits and drove in a run for Kansas City. Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar had two hits and scored a run.
The Royals grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Escobar blooped a single to right, stole second and scored with one out on Lorenzo Cain's single to center.
Oakland answered with three runs in the bottom of the first off Young. Billy Burns led off with a single, Marcus Semien walked and Reddick lined Young's 0-1 pitch into the right-field seats. Young threw an 86 mph fastball, up and in, and Reddick jumped on it.
The A's increased their lead to 4-1 in the second. Alonso hit a leadoff single to left, Phegley had an infield single and Burns walked, loading the bases. Semien brought Alonso home with a sacrifice fly.
Kansas City cut Oakland's lead to 4-2 in the fourth. Omar Infante lined a two-out single to left, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on Fuentes' single.
NOTES: A's INF Eric Sogard said he expects to undergo left knee surgery that will sideline him for six to eight weeks. He is on the disabled list for a strained neck but re-aggravated his knee during a rehab assignment. "I'm going to have to get a bone spur removed out of my tendon," Sogard said. Sogard said he will also have "loose bodies" removed and his patella "shaved down" a bit. He said he has been dealing with knee soreness for "a few years." A's manager Bob Melvin said Sogard will get a second opinion before undergoing surgery. ... Royals 3B Mike Moustakas returned to the lineup after getting a day off Friday to rest his sore right hamstring. "It was definitely good," Moustakas said of the break. "I needed a day off just to rest my hammy and take it a little easy." ... A's RHP Henderson Alvarez (right shoulder surgery) will throw a bullpen session Sunday, and if all goes well he will go on a rehab assignment with a minor-league club, Melvin said. ... Royals DH Kendrys Morales, who had 106 RBIs last season, became the 13th Cuban-born player with 500 career RBIs in the major leagues on Friday night.