Kansas City Royals vs Oakland Athletics Match Player Stats On Sep 17, 2019

Matt Olson ignited a two-run seventh inning with a home run, and Seth Brown broke a tie with an RBI double two batters later Tuesday night as the Oakland Athletics rallied to edge the visiting Kansas City Royals 2-1.

One night after the Royals stormed back late for a 6-5 win, the A's turned the tables in a game that began as a pitchers' duel between Oakland left-hander Brett Anderson and Kansas City righty Jorge Lopez.

Seeking to extend his personal winning streak to three games, Lopez (4-8) took a two-hit shutout and 1-0 lead into the seventh. Both were gone four pitches later, however, when Olson bombed his 35th homer of the season over the fence in center field.

The home run was Olson's sixth in his past eight games.

After Lopez hit Mark Canha with a pitch, Brown lashed his go-ahead double to right-center, producing the eventual difference-making run.

Joakim Soria and Liam Hendriks retired all six Royals they faced, striking out four, to preserve the lead over the final two innings. Hendriks, who took the loss on Monday, earned his 23rd save.

Rookie A.J. Puk (2-0) got the win after pitching scoreless sixth and seven innings, striking out two.

Anderson went the first five innings for Oakland. He left trailing 1-0, having allowed five hits. He struck out two and did not issue a walk in running his unbeaten streak to five games.

The Royals scored their lone run in the fifth when Ryan McBroom doubled, took third on a single by Cheslor Cuthbert and scored on Nick Dini's sacrifice fly.

Brown finished with a single and a double for the A's (91-61), who have won seven of eight and lead the race for the first American League wild card by two games over the Tampa Bay Rays, who fell 7-5 later Tuesday night to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Cuthbert collected a pair of singles for the Royals (56-96), who lost for the fourth time in their past five games.

The Royals out-hit the A's 6-4.

Lopez was charged with two runs on four hits in his six-plus innings. He struck out four and walked one.

--Field Level Media