 made his second start since being called up from the minors last Sunday and limited the Royals to six hits and used groundball double plays to end the fourth and fifth innings. He lowered his ERA to 0.64.Olson hit a 428-foot solo shot in the third and a 456-foot three-run blast in a seven-run third - both off Ian Kennedy - for his third career multi-homer game and third this season. He also drew a bases-loaded walk from Brian Flynn in the ninth to score Matt Chapman.The A's sent 10 men to the plate in the third against Kennedy (1-6) and the first six reached, including Fowler's solo home run. Fowler also added a three-run homer off Jason Adam in Oakland's seven-run ninth.Khris Davis, who came off the disabled list Thursday, singled in two runs in the third, and Jed Lowrie walked with the bases loaded.Kennedy threw 46 of his 71 pitches in the third, his last inning. He gave up eight runs and seven hits with two walks. Since August 20, 2016, Kennedy is 1-12 with a 5.77 ERA in 26 starts at Kauffman Stadium.Whit Merrifield had three of the Kansas City's eight hits. Jon Jay went 0 for 4, ending his 12-game hitting streak.The Royals have lost 20 of 29 home games.MILESTONE HITA's catcher Jonathan Lucroy singled in the sixth for his 1,000 hit. He had three hits and scored three runs.ROSTER MOVEOakland reinstated Marcus Semien from the paternity list. He entered in the ninth at shortstop. INF Franklin Barreto was optioned to Triple-A Nashville.TRAINER'S ROOMAthletics: LHP Brett Anderson (left shoulder strain) will play catch Saturday, the first day he'll throw since placed on the disabled list on May 19. RHP Liam Hendriks (right groin strain) will throw again Saturday for the Sounds. He pitched a scoreless inning Thursday at Round Rock.Royals: 1B Lucas Duda (right foot plantar fasciitis) and 3B Cheslor Cuthbert (lower back strain) remain on the disabled list. Royals manager Ned Yost said they are not close to going on a rehab assignment.UP NEXTAthletics: RHP Trevor Cahill, who had an 8.22 ERA in 10 appearances last season with Kansas City, will start against his former club.Royals: RHP Jason Hammel is 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA in his past two starts.---For more baseball coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Royals, Jay try to find their way past Athletics 5h ago• 2 min read KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jon Jay can only hope his June goes as well as his May.Jay will take a 12-game hitting streak into Friday night when the Kansas City Royals face the Oakland Athletics in the opener of a home weekend series.Jay is hitting .360 (18-for-50) in the hitting streak, matching his longest since a 12-game streak in 2014. Only Mike Moustakas has a longer hitting streak for the Royals this season, a 14-gamer in April."I don't think about any of that stuff," Jay said. "I just show up every day and try to be consistent with my routine. That's it." Jay put together a spectacular May. In 28 games, he hit .368 with a .402 on-base percentage. Only Hall of Famer George Brett, 48 in 1976 and 47 in 1979, had more hits in May for the Royals than Jay's 43.The last Royals player with more than 43 hits in any month was Johnny Damon in August 2004. He wound up with 214 hits that season.While Jay had three doubles in a four-hit game on Memorial Day, he tops the majors with 57 singles."He's a professional hitter, which is one of the highest compliments you can give any hitter," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He hits left-handers equally as well as right-handers. He's been a consistent .290 to .300 hitter throughout his career."We look for a catalyst, a table-setter at the top of our lineup and Jon Jay had definitely done that." The Royals are coming off a series victory over the Minnesota Twins, taking two of three.Veteran right-hander Ian Kennedy will start the first game against the Athletics. Kennedy is 1-5 with a 5.15 in 11 starts. Right-handers are batting .298 and left-handers .288 against Kennedy.Kennedy had a no-decision in his previous start, allowing two runs and five hits in five innings against the Rangers. He is winless in his last nine starts. He is 0-5 with a 6.31 ERA since an April 7 victory at Cleveland.Kennedy is 1-2 with a 5.09 ERA in three career starts against the A's. Seven of the 10 runs he has allowed to Oakland came in 2011, his first start against them.The A's come to town with Khris Davis back in the middle of their lineup. He was reinstated off the disabled list on Thursday and went 1-for-3 with a double, scored a run and walked in Oakland's 7-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Oakland."Just having him in the lineup is a comfort to everybody else," Melvin said after Thursday's game. "The lineup plays out a little differently with him in it, and to an extent maybe there's a little psychology to it that, 'Maybe I don't have to do a little bit more than is expected of me.'"Right-hander Frankie Montas will start for Oakland. He was recalled Sunday from Triple-A Nashville and made his 2018 debut that day, picking up a 2-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, allowing one run and three hits while walking two and striking out seven in a career-high seven innings.It was Montas' first A's start, but the third of his career. His previous major league experience includes 23 bullpen outings last year with Oakland and seven games, including two starts in 2015 with the Chicago White Sox.He has faced the Royals only one time, on April 12, 2017, at Kauffman Stadium. He allowed one run on a homer with one strikeout in an inning of relief.
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