KANSAS CITY — Bobby Witt Jr. homered and scored three runs to power the Kansas City Royals to a 6-2 victory over the Athletics on Thursday, completing their first four-game sweep of the season.
The win extends Kansas City’s winning streak to five games and marks their fourth series sweep of the year. Meanwhile, the struggling Athletics have now dropped 17 of their last 21 contests.
Witt ignited the Royals’ offense early, launching his 16th home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. Kansas City built on that momentum in the third, extending the lead to 3-0 on a two-out, bases-loaded single by Isaac Collins. They added two more in the fifth courtesy of a Nick Loftin triple and an RBI single from Salvador Perez, before Michael Massey capped the scoring with an RBI double in the bottom half of the frame.
The Athletics attempted a comeback in the top of the fifth, loading the bases on three consecutive walks. They managed two runs via a Brian Serven single and a Donovan Walton groundout, but the Royals’ bullpen shut the door from there.
Royals starter Randy Dobnak navigated around 10 baserunners—allowing six hits and four walks—over four scoreless innings. Reliever Connor Thomas (1-1) earned his first major league win, delivering 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. A’s starter Gage Jump (5-8) took the loss, tagged for five runs on eight hits across four innings.
Despite the victory, Kansas City suffered a blow in the first inning when Maikel Garcia pulled up clutching his left hamstring after rounding third base on a Salvador Perez grounder. Garcia was forced to leave the game. He had just returned to the lineup on Monday after missing nearly two months with a left hand muscle strain.
UP NEXT
The Royals host the Detroit Tigers next. Kansas City will send LHP Noah Cameron (7-8, 4.16 ERA) to the mound against Tigers RHP Troy Melton (7-1, 1.71 ERA).
