 dazzled in relief of Jacob Junis before Kennedy kept everyone on edge. He walked Jurickson Profar to begin the inning, then struck out Chris Herrmann and Corban Joseph, before Marcus Semien singled to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Kennedy responded by getting Robbie Grossman to hit a lazy flyball to left field to earn his 23rd save this season.''It was set up perfectly for Timmy,'' Yost said. ''The way their lineup was set up was perfect. He threw the ball extremely well. Then Ian came in with great stuff, too.'' Blake Treinen (6-5) faced four batters in the seventh inning without recording an out for Oakland. He allowed three hits and a walk, and Jake Diekman allowed one of his inherited runners to score.''It's frustrating when you feel when you feel like your stuff is playing well and you're locating,'' Treinen said. ''I think I only missed the spot once.'' Semien and Mark Canha homered for the A's, who twice blew two-run leads in squandering a chance to go a season-best 22 games over .500. Oakland (76-56) had won 19 of 24 against the Central Division.The big blows began with the second pitch, when Semien launched a solo shot off Junis to give the A's the lead. The Royals' starter proceeded to hit Matt Chapman in the helmet with a pitch two batters later, the impact launching the headgear all the way toward the warning track.Chapman stayed in the game to score on Seth Brown's groundout before heading for the clubhouse.''He's all right, no concussion symptoms as of right now,'' A's manager Bob Melvin said. ''That was scary.'' The Royals tied it in the third when Tanner Roark served up Dozier's two-run shot. The homer over the left-field bullpen was bookended by Roark hitting Whit Merrifield and Alex Gordon with pitches.Oakland jumped back ahead in the fifth on Canha's two-run homer, and the Royals quickly answered over the next couple innings. Jorge Soler got the first run back with an RBI double in the fifth, and O'Hearn tied it 4-all when he belted a 0-2 pitch to right field to open the sixth.Roark wound up allowing four runs on five hits and a walk in six innings, striking out four. Junis gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk, striking out five.''Got off to a tough start. Command was all over the place,'' Junis said. ''I kind of grinded through it and figured a way to get through six innings and give us a chance.'' DUCK!Chapman immediately headed toward first base after he was hit in the helmet, and even shook off a trainer who came out to visit him. But he was eventually replaced by Chad Pinder as a precaution.KELLER SITSThe Royals have shut down right-hander Brad Keller for the rest of the season after noticing a drop in velocity. The 24-year-old Keller, who was pounded by Oakland on Monday, already has thrown a career-high 165 1/3 innings. ''I didn't see anything after his last start that I wanted to see the rest of the year,'' Yost said. ''His future is too important.'' SALE TALKYost declined to discuss speculation that Royals owner David Glass is negotiating with local businessman and Indians minority owner John Sherman on the sale of the franchise. But the skipper did spend time talking about the passion Glass has for baseball, and Yost said delivering the 84-year-old owner a World Series title in 2015 was one of the highlights of his career.BABY WATCHA's designated hitter Khris Davis was a late scratch when he left to be with his wife, Jill, for the birth of their second child. He was replaced by Joseph in the lineup, and Melvin said a roster replacement would arrive Thursday. Davis is expected back against the Yankees this weekend in New York.UP NEXTChris Bassitt (9-5, 3.59 ERA) starts for the A's and fellow right-hander Glenn Sparkman (3-9, 5.52) is on the hill for the Royals as the clubs wrap up their four-game series with a Thursday matinee.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
A's look to feast on lowly RoyalsFLMIf the Oakland A's reach the postseason in 2019, they likely will be able to thank a weak closing schedule.Following Tuesday's 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals, the A's have 23 of their remaining 31 games against teams currently with sub-.500 records. They have three in New York against the Yankees (87-47) this weekend, and four at Houston (86-47) Sept. 9-12.Otherwise, the A's have five against the Royals, six against Texas, five against the Angels, four against the Mariners, and four against Detroit.The two clubs that are closest in competition to the A's, the Indians and Rays, were seventh and 11th in strength of schedule in remaining games entering play Tuesday.The next opportunity for the A's will be Wednesday's third game of the current four-game series against the Royals. The A's will turn to right-hander Tanner Roark (2-1, 2.63 ERA with the A's) against RHP Jakob Junis (8-12, 4.89 for Kansas City).Roark is 8-8 with a 3.95 ERA in 25 starts overall this season. He was acquired from the Cincinnati Reds at the trade deadline in exchange for minor league outfielder Jameson Hannah.Roark is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two appearances (one start) in his career against the Royals. He limited the Yankees to just two runs over 6 1/3 innings in his last start. He struck out seven and walked none."Walks will kill you," Roark said after that game. "You limit those and challenge guys, which is what I think I do well. Just challenge and attack, move in and out, up and down, keep them on their toes." The A's are 19-5 against the AL Central this year, outscoring opponents 151-73 in those games.Since losing the 2014 Wild Card Game, the A's are 11-4 at Kauffman Stadium, outscoring the Royals 111-39.Junis took a 4-1 loss Friday in Cleveland, yielding four runs on six hits in four innings of work, his second consecutive defeat, on the heels of winning back-to-back starts."They put some good at-bats together all night," Junis said following the four-inning outing that snapped a career-long streak of eight consecutive starts of at least six innings. "Even when I was getting them out, I was really mixing it up and going both sides of the plate. It's hard to tell (how deep I could've gone). It didn't fall that way tonight. One tough inning, and that's pretty much the story." He's held opponents to a .194 (12-for-62) average with runners in scoring position since June 11, the second-lowest mark in the AL in that span (min. 50 AB).Junis is 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA in four appearances (three starts) against the A's in his brief career. He last faced the A's on June 8, 2018, in Oakland, allowing six runs on 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings. He's made four starts vs. the AL West so far this season, pitching to a 1-3 record and 6.04 ERA.--Field Level Media
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