Max Muncy Leads Athletics Past Royals in 4-0 Victory

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) — Max Muncy hit a home run and Jacob Lopez pitched six strong innings to lead the Oakland Athletics to a 4-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.

Lopez (1-4) allowed just three hits, walked one batter, and struck out nine in the win. This marks his second career victory in the majors, with his first coming on October 1, 2023, while he was pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Athletics’ offense was driven by Muncy, who followed a lead-off walk by Tyler Soderstrom in the second inning with his fifth home run of the season. Muncy’s hit was a powerful line drive that sailed into the A’s bullpen off Kansas City starter Michael Lorenzen.

Fellow teammate Lawrence Butler added to the score with a homer off reliever Daniel Lynch IV in the seventh inning. Lopez’s performance was also complemented by Michael Kelly, who pitched two perfect innings of relief, and Hogan Harris who finished the game, allowing only four hits.

Kansas City’s Lorenzen (4-7) struggled, giving up three runs on four hits and issuing four walks over his six innings on the mound, while striking out four. The Royals have now lost the first five games of their homestand, having previously been swept by the New York Yankees.

The defeat marks a low point for Kansas City, which has now lost seven of its last eight games and 13 of their last 16 games at Kauffman Stadium. Meanwhile, the Athletics are showing signs of improvement, bouncing back after a poor stretch of losing 13 of their last 16 games.

Looking ahead, the A’s will start left-handed pitcher Jeffrey Springs (5-5, 4.64 ERA) in the series finale on Sunday, while Kansas City counters with Noah Cameron (2-2, 2.17), who aims to recover from a rough outing against the Yankees.