Nori Aoki’s Triple keys Five-Run inning in Royals Win

The Kansas City Royals won their 2nd straight by defeating the A’s 7-3 at Kauffman Stadium Thursday afternoon.  Nori Aoki stroked a 2-run triple to key a 5-run 7th that overcame a 3-2 Oakland lead.

The A’s managed to load the bases in the 9th inning against Jason Fraser and closer Greg Holland, but Holland retired LF Brandon Moss on a fly ball to left.

The win puts Kansas City at 12 games over .500 at 66-54. The Royals held on to their 1/2 game lead over Detroit in the A.L. Central, and opened a 1 game gap between themselves and the Blue Jays for the 2nd wild card spot.

On the Mound

Starter James Shield pitched 6.0 innings, allowing 7 hits, 1 walk, and 3 earned runs with 5 strikeouts. Though Shields was charged with 3 earned runs, Jarrod Dyson lost Josh Reddick‘s deep fly to center in the sun with two outs in the inning. The ball fell for a triple, scoring Stephen Vogt from 1st base. Alberto Callaspo followed with a single that drove in Reddick from 3rd.

The bottom line is that Shields should have only surrendered 1 earned run and notched the win instead of getting a no-decision.

Francisely Bueno retired two hitters in the 7th.

Aaron Crow (6-1) notched the final out i the 7th on a strikeout. He ended up winning the game when the Royals scored 5 in the bottom of the 7th.

Wade Davis pitched a scoreless 8th despite allowing 2 hits. He also struck out the side.

Jason Frasor opened the 9th and recorded 1 out while allowing two hits. Greg Holland relieved Frasor with 2 runners on, and closed out the game without allowing either to score despite allowing a walk to load the bases with 2 outs.

At the Plate

Overall, the Royals pounded out 12 hits, including a double and triple, and drew 1 walk on the day. Both extra-base hits came in their 5-run 7th inning.

Christian Colon had a big day subbing at 2B for Omar Infante. Colon went 3 for 4, with 2 singles and a double, 1 run scored, and 1 RBI.

Nori Aoki struck the big blow with a 2-run triple in the 7th with the score tied 3-3 after a long duel with Oakland reliever Ryan Cook. Aoki went 1-4 with the triple, 1 run scored, and 2 RBI’s.

Billy Butler followed Aoki’s double with a 2-run single toward the gap in right field. Aoki scored from 3rd and Escobar came home because he was running on the play. Butler finished 2 for 4 with a single, double, and 2 RBI’s.

This and That

The Royals have won 7 series in a row, including 2, 4-game sets.

Kansas City is 12 games over .500 for the first time since July 20, 2003. The Royals are in 1st place as late as August 15 for the first time since August 29, 2003.

Rookie Christian Colon had his 2nd 3-hit game since getting called up after the All-Star break.

Jarrod Dyson made up for his misplay in the 6th inning with an 0-2 single in the 7th that scored Colon and tied the game at 3-3.Dyson also drove in a run in with a sacrifice fly in the 3rd.

Alcides Escobar made a mistake by running outside the basepaths on would have been a leadoff bunt single in the 6th. He was called out for interfering with the catcher.

Manager Ned Yost ran aggressively in the game, yielding 3 stolen bases plus an extra run in the 7th when Escobar scored from first on Butler’s single because Yost put on the hit-and-run.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

I was tempted to go with Christian Colon for his 3-hit game, but gave our nod to Nori Aoki for his game-changing triple in the 7th. That was the key at-bat in the game.

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• Billy Butler – 8
• Jason Frasor
• Francisley Bueno
• Danny Valencia
• Christian Colon
• Raul Ibanez
• Jarrod Dyson – 2
• Lorenzo Cain – 6
• Johnny Giavotella
• Wade Davis
• Norichika Aoki  – 5
• Salvador Perez – 6
• Jeremy Guthrie  – 3
• Jason Vargas – 7
• Alex Gordon – 11
• Bruce Chen   – 5
• James Shields – 10
• Yordano Ventura – 5
• Danny Duffy – 7
• Omar Infante – 4
• Mike Moustakas – 9
• Alcides Escobar – 6
• Eric Hosmer – 12
• Michael Mariot

The A’s

Josh Reddick had a double and gift triple, going 2 for 4 with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. 1B Stephen Vogt went 3 for 4 with 3 singles and 1 run scored.

Up Next

The Royals travel to Minnesota to begin a 4-game series against the Twins. The Royals will send Danny Duffy (7-10, 2.57 ERA) to the mound against Ricky Nolasco (5-7, 5.90 ERA) for Minnesota. Game time is 7:10 PM CST at Target Field in Minneapolis.

Box

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

2B: J Reddick (11, off J Shields).
3B: J Reddick (5, off J Shields).
SF: A Callaspo (5, off J Shields).
TB: J Reddick 5; S Vogt 3; B Moss 2; E Sogard; A Callaspo; S Fuld; C Crisp.
RBI: A Callaspo 2 (36); J Reddick (35).
2-out RBI: A Callaspo; J Reddick.
Team LOB: 10.
With RISP: 1 for 8.
Fielding
DP: 1. S Vogt-E Sogard-S Vogt.
E: A Callaspo (8).

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

2B: C Colon (4, off J Samardzija).
3B: N Aoki (4, off R Cook).
SF: J Dyson (2, off J Samardzija).
TB: C Colon 4; N Aoki 3; E Kratz 2; B Butler 2; A Gordon; L Cain; M Moustakas; J Dyson.
GIDP: N Aoki (5).
RBI: N Aoki 2 (28); B Butler 2 (50); J Dyson 2 (18); M Moustakas (48).
2-out RBI: B Butler 2; M Moustakas.
Team LOB: 5.
With RISP: 4 for 9.
Baserunning
SB: C Colon (1, 2nd base off J Samardzija/J Jaso); A Gordon (8, 3rd base off J Samardzija/J Jaso); L Cain (17, 2nd base off S Doolittle/D Norris).

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

Balks: None.
WP: J Samardzija (8); J Shields (8).
HBP: None.
IBB: None.
Pickoffs: None.