WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Interstat) — The Athletics defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-3 on Thursday afternoon at Sutter Health Park, taking two of three in the series in front of 9,333 fans. The game lasted 2 hours, 40 minutes.

Kansas City struck first in the top of the first inning. Maikel Garcia led off with a double, moved to third on a flyout by Bobby Witt Jr. and scored on a two-out single by Starling Marte. The Royals added a run in the second when Garcia hit a solo home run to left-center field, his third of the season, making it 2-0.

The Athletics answered immediately in the bottom of the first. Jacob Wilson singled, Shea Langeliers doubled and Darell Hernaiz singled through the left side to drive in Wilson, cutting the lead to 2-1.

The decisive inning came in the bottom of the second. After a leadoff flyout, Lawrence Butler walked, Wilson singled to right and Langeliers doubled to left, scoring Butler and advancing Wilson to third. Nick Kurtz then doubled to center, scoring both Wilson and Langeliers to put the Athletics ahead 4-2. After a lineout, Hernaiz singled to second base, scoring Kurtz and advancing to second on a throwing error by second baseman Nick Loftin. The Athletics led 5-2.

The Royals bullpen kept the game within reach. Starter Noah Cameron exited after 5⅓ innings, allowing nine hits and four earned runs while striking out five. Scott Barlow, Brady Basso and Jack Perkins combined for scoreless relief, with Perkins earning his third save of the season by retiring the side in the ninth.

The Athletics added an insurance run in the seventh. Langeliers led off with his third double of the game, advanced to third on a forceout and scored on a ground-ball single by Hernaiz, his third hit of the afternoon, making it 6-2.

Kansas City rallied in the eighth. Elias Diaz hit a solo home run to right field, his first of the season, cutting the deficit to 6-3. But the Royals could not sustain the momentum. Perkins struck out Michael Massey and induced a lineout from Vinnie Pasquantino to end the game.

Garcia finished 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and an RBI for the Royals. Diaz was 1-for-4 with the home run. Marte had three singles. Langeliers went 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI for the Athletics. Hernaiz also had three hits, driving in two runs. Kurtz had a double and two RBIs.

Luis Medina earned the win, his first of the season, pitching 2⅔ scoreless innings of relief, allowing three hits and striking out one. Cameron took the loss, falling to 2-2. Perkins recorded his third save with a perfect ninth inning, allowing one hit and striking out one.

The Royals dropped to 12-19 on the season, while the Athletics improved to 17-14. Kansas City continues its West Coast trip with a three-game series at Seattle beginning Friday. The Athletics return home to host Cleveland in a three-game set starting Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Athletics 6, Royals 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Athletics a 50.90 percent probability to win. The Athletics were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 9 went over the over/under line of 9.5.