Royals Edge A’s 3-2, Clinch Series

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Another solid display of starting pitching on Wednesday night helped propel the Kansas City Royals to a 3-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics at Kauffman Stadium.

Royals lefty Will Smith (4-4, 5.09 ERA) turned in an electric start, giving up two runs on five hits in 7 innings, striking out five and walking one.

Third baseman Josh Donaldson hit a solo home run to give the A’s (61-55, 27-29 away) a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning.

The Royals (51-65, 23-32 home) answered with three consecutive two-out doubles in the seventh. Center fielder Lorenzo Cain tied the game with an RBI double to deep left that scored Eric Hosmer from second, and Chris Getz knocked in the go-ahead run to give the Royals a 3-2 lead.

Reliever Aaron Crow (3.54 ERA) struck out a pair in the eighth, and closer Greg Holland (3.21 ERA) struck out a pair in the ninth to record his fourth save.

The Royals are 9-5 in the month of August, after posting a 7-19 record in July. They currently trail the Cleveland Indians (54-64) by 2 games for third place in the A.L. Central.

RHP Luke Hochevar (7-10, 5.32 ERA) takes the mound against A’s RHP Dan Straily (0-0, 5.06 ERA) as the Royals go for the sweep on Thursday night night at Kauffman Stadium.