Athletics 6, Royals 3
Tommy Milone came within two outs of his first career shutout as visiting Oakland took the opener of the three-game series.
Milone (8-7) carried a two-hitter into the ninth inning before giving up a pair of runs on four straight one-out hits. He struck out four and did not walk a batter before yielding to Grant Balfour, who allowed another run to score before matching Dennis Eckersley's franchise record with his 40th consecutive save dating to last year
Josh Reddick doubled, tripled, drove in two runs and scored three times and Coco Crisp had three RBIs to lift the Athletics to their seventh win in nine games. Reddick tripled and scored on Crisp's sacrifice fly in the fifth and also scored on Crisp's two-run single in the ninth to make it 6-0.
Wade Davis (4-7) went seven solid innings for the Royals, tying his season high with eight strikeouts while giving up three runs on six hits. Reliever J.C. Gutierrez was tagged for three runs (one earned) and three hits in one inning.
Kansas City rallied in the ninth when David Lough and Alcides Escobar had back-to-back doubles and Eric Hosmer following with a run-scoring single to cut the deficit to 6-2. Billy Butler followed with a single to bring on Balfour, who surrendered an RBI single to Salvador Perez before getting the final two outs for his 22nd save.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Royals LF Jeff Gordon passed his concussion tests and took batting practice Friday. He is still awaiting medical clearance from Major League Baseball and dealing with a nasty bruise on his buttocks as a result of crashing into the fence in Wednesday's game. ... Athletics LHP Brett Anderson (right foot stress fracture), who hasn't pitched since April 29, had the boot removed from his foot and can resume weight-bearing activities. ... Kansas City released OF Jeff Francouer, who was designated for assignment on June 30. He is free to sign with any team after passing through waivers unclaimed.