James Shields handcuffs A’s in Win

James Shields dominated the A’s for 8 innings, allowing only 2 earned runs in Kansas City’s 4-2 win over Oakland Sunday afternoon at the Coliseum.

The Royals scored all 4 of their runs in the top of the 5th inning against A’s starter Scott Kazmir. The Royals pounded out 6 hits and 1 walk in the inning, with 2 doubles and a stolen base.

The win puts Kansas City 4 games over .500 at 57-53. The Royals remain 5 games behind Detroit in the American League Central, and are now 1.5 games behind Toronto for the 2nd Wild Card position in the A.L.

On the Mound

James Shields was terrific on Sunday. He pitched no-hit ball through 5 innings until he gave up a home run to Josh Reddick to lead off the 6th. Reddick also hit a solo home run in the 8th to account for both Oakland scores.

Overall, Shields held the A’s to 4 hits in 8.0 innings, allowing 2 earned runs with 7 strikeouts. Shields earned the win to go 10-6 on the season.

Greg Holland pitched a clean 9th inning with 1 strikeout to earn his 31st save.

At the Plate

Rookie Christian Colon started off the 5th inning rally with a double. After Dyson struck out, the Royals followed with 5 consecutive hits (1 double) to score 4 runs before Alex Gordon ended the inning by grounding into a double play.

Omar Infante‘s double to deep left was the big blow, driving in 2 runs. Infante went 3-5, with 2 singles, a double, 1 run scored, and 2 RBI’s on the day. Infante also chipped in with a stolen base (5) in the 5th.

Billy Butler also had 3 hits, going 3-4 with 3 singles, but somehow managing not to either score, or drive in, a run.

Alcides Escobar also reached safely 3 times, going 2-3 with 2 singles, 1 walk, and 1 run scored.

Overall, the Royals stroked 14 hits on the day, with 1 walk and 2 doubles.

This and That

Christian Colon made his 1st start at 3rd base as the new platoon partner for Mike Moustakas after Dayton Moore traded Danny Valencia to the Blue Jays for backup catcher Erik Kratz. Colon went 1-4 with the double that started off KC’s 4 run rally in the 5th.

The A’s turned 4 double plays along with a sliding catch by Sam Fuld and a leaping grab by Josh Reddick in the outfield to keep the game close.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

James Shields is our guy for his 4-hit performance Sunday afternoon. Shields has really bounced back strong since the beginning of July after struggling in May and June.

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• Billy Butler – 5
• Jason Frasor
• Francisley Bueno
• Danny Valencia
• Christian ColFon
• Raul Ibanez
• Jarrod Dyson – 2
• Lorenzo Cain – 6
• Johnny Giavotella
• Wade Davis
• Norichika Aoki  – 3
• Salvador Perez – 6
• Jeremy Guthrie  – 2
• Jason Vargas – 6
• Alex Gordon – 10
• Bruce Chen   – 5
• James Shields – 10
• Yordano Ventura – 5
• Danny Duffy – 7
• Omar Infante – 4
• Mike Moustakas – 8
• Alcides Escobar – 5
• Eric Hosmer – 12
• Michael Mariott

The A’s

Josh Reddick single-handedly kept the A’s in the game with his two solo home runs and a leaping grab against the wall in the 7th on Nori Aoki‘s deep drive with a runner on 1st base. Reddick probably stopped Alcides Escobar from scoring and instead doubled him off with a strong throw.

Up Next

The Royals enjoy an off day Monday while travelling to Phoenix to take on the Diamondbacks in an interleague game. The Royals will send Danny Duffy (5-10, 2.42 ERA) to the mound against Wade Miley (7-7, 4.14 ERA) for the DIamondbacks. Game time is 8:45 PM CST at Chase Field in Phoenix.