Kansas City Royals vs Oakland Athletics Match Player Stats On Aug 14, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Aug 15, 2017

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Rookie catcher Cam Gallagher hit a grand slam in the sixth inning for his first major league home run, powering the Kansas City Royals to their third straight win, a 6-2 victory against the Oakland Athletics on Monday night at the Oakland Coliseum.

Gallagher homered in his 10th major league at-bat, third game and second start since being called up from Triple-A Omaha on Aug. 6. He was promoted when the Royals placed catcher Salvador Perez (right intercostal strain) on the disabled list.

Gallagher came to the plate with two outs in the sixth and lined A's rookie right-hander Jharel Cotton's 3-2 fastball into the left field seats, giving Kansas City a 6-1 lead. The Royals had loaded the bases on Melky Cabrera's leadoff walk, Mike Moustakas' sharp single to center and Alicides Escobar's one-out infield single.

Gallagher, who entered the game 1-for-7 with no RBIs or extra-base hits, also hit a leadoff double to left-center in the ninth inning.

Rookie right-hander Jake Junis (5-2) was called up Monday from Omaha and allowed two runs on four hits over six innings for his third straight victory, including one in relief. He struck out two, walked none and hit two batters.

The Royals (60-58) remained five games behind Cleveland in the American League Central and moved to within a half-game of the Los Angles Angels for the second AL wild-card spot.

The A's (52-67) cut Kansas City's lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth. Boog Powell lined a leadoff single and moved to third on Matt Joyce's single. Junis hit Ryon Healy with pitch to load the bases with one out, then hit Khris Davis, forcing in a run. Junis retired Matt Olson on a foul popup and struck out Chad Pinder to end the inning.

Escobar went 2-for-4 and scored two runs.

Marcus Semien went 2-for-4 with a triple and scored a run for the A's.

Cotton (5-10) gave up six runs on eight hits over six innings. He walked three, struck out two and lost his third straight decision.

Mike Minor, Brandon Maurer and Ryan Buchter each pitched a scoreless inning in relief for the Royals. Buchter had three strikeouts in the ninth.

The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Whit Merrifield hit a leadoff single, stole second base and scored on Eric Hosmer's single.

The A's pulled even with a run in the bottom of the inning. Semien tripled off the left-center-field wall with one out and scored on Healy's groundout.

Kansas City regained the lead at 2-1 lead in second inning. Escobar lined a two-out single to left, moved to third on Alex Gordon's single to right and scored on wild pitch by Cotton.

NOTES: Royals C Salvador Perez (right intercostal strain) caught a bullpen session and took 10 to 15 swings off a batting tee at 30 to 40 percent effort on Monday as he continued his recovery. Perez has been out since Aug. 5. "I feel pretty good," Perez said of swinging the bat. ... RHP Kevin McCarthy was optioned to Triple-A Omaha on Monday, opening a spot on the Royals' 25-man roster for RHP Jake Junis, who was called up and started against Oakland. ... A's INF/DH Ryon Healy hit safely in his eighth straight game against Kansas City to start his career. He went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI and was hit by a pitch. He has three doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs against the Royals.