Perfect it was not, but it counts just the same.
The A's wasted little time getting on the board, and it started with a gift. Coco Crisp reached base when third baseman Wilson Betemit threw high to first, then went to third on a Daric Barton double. Conor Jackson, who absolutely owns Kansas City starter Jeff Francis (to the gnarly tune of 16-for-38), cashed in once more with an RBI-knock to right to plate Coco. A groundout to first by Josh Willingham brought home Barton and it was quickly 2-0 A's.
Tyson Ross was effective if not masterful in his six frames on the bump, as he worked with men on base in every inning except the first. He helped his own cause with a pair of nifty plays early on. In the second inning as he turned a busted play into a thing of beauty. With Jeff Francoeur on first and no one out, Eric Hosmer hit a smash that Mark Ellis knocked down diving to his right. Unable to glove the ball cleanly, Ellis hurried the throw to second base, and it skirted past Cliff Pennington who was covering. Time stopped for a second, as Francoeaur considered breaking for third. Seeing that no A's player was in any hurry to retrieve the ball, he took off towards the bag. Ross dashed from the mound, fielded a throw from Kouzmanoff, and beat Francoeaur with a head-first slide, literally knocking his adversary off his intended destination.
Then in the fourth with Alex Gordon on second and only one out, Ross leapt to his left to nab a comebacker off the bat of Hosmer, and wheeled to catch Gordon in a rundown.
The Royals continued their tradition of even-inning baserunning gaffes, and it cost them a chance to tie things up in the sixth. After Kevin Kouzmanoff homered to center to make it 3-0, Ross' run of zeroes came to a close. He had closed the previous two innings with strikeouts to leave men stranded, but could not close the door. Hosmer doubled to score Melky Cabrera, and a walk to Betemit caused the natives to stir. Mitch Maier singled to drive in Hosmer, but David DeJesus fired a strike to second to catch Betemit diving back to the bag.
A Coco single drove home Ellis with an insurance run in the eighth, Kurt Suzuki homered in the ninth, and an assembly line of Michael Wuertz, Grant Balfour, and Brian Fuentes closed out the win.
The A's pounded out a dozen hits, three by Jackson off his favorite whipping boy and two each by a trio still trying to find their way at the plate- Barton, Ellis, and Kouzmanoff.
The 5-2 win moves the A's to 6-0 on Sundays and they're back to over .500 as we move on to Texas.
