KANSAS CITY (Interstat) — Bobby Witt Jr. homered and scored three times, Michael Massey had three hits and an RBI, and the Kansas City Royals defeated the Athletics 6-2 on Thursday at Kauffman Stadium.

Kansas City took a 1-0 lead in the first on Witt’s 16th home run. Isaac Collins added a two-run single in the third, Nick Loftin tripled in a run in the fourth, and Salvador Perez singled in another as the Royals stretched the lead to 5-0. The Athletics answered with two in the fifth on Brian Serven’s RBI single and Donovan Walton’s groundout. Massey doubled in a run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 6-2.

Connor Thomas (1-1) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief for the win. Gage Jump (5-8) took the loss. Randy Dobnak scattered six hits over four scoreless innings for Kansas City. Scott Blewett allowed one hit over two scoreless innings for the Athletics. The Royals outhit the Athletics 12-8, and both teams grounded into two double plays.

Kansas City improved to 55-74; the Athletics fell to 49-79. Attendance was 11,867, and the game lasted 2:58.