Tommy Milone had the Royals number last night as he cruised into the ninth inning with a shutout brewing. Kansas City trailed 6-0 going into the bottom of the ninth inning, they would tack on three runs to make it interesting but the A’s would hold on for the 6-3 victory in game one of the series that was witnessed by over 35,000 fans at Kauffman Stadium.
A’s closer Grant Balfour notched his 40th consecutive save to tie Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley’s franchise record. Milone retired his first 11 batters, and only twice allowed a ball to get out of the infield through the first three innings. The left-hander finally gave up a single to Hosmer with two outs in the fourth, but that was it until David Lough’s two-out single in the sixth.
Wade Davis had a quality outing but the lack of run support by the Royals was all that Milone and company needed. Davis pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on six hits and striking out eight batters.
Game two of the series this afternoon with a 1:10pm first pitch and the game can be heard on Sports Radio 1350 KMAN.