Andrus hits walk-off single in 9th, A's edge Royals 4-3

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Elvis Andrus hit a winning single in the ninth inning after making pair of fielding gaffes, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Friday night.

With the score 3-all, Matt Chapman doubled over leaping third baseman Hanser Alberto with one out and Seth Brown was intentionally walked by Scott Barlow (2-2).

Andrus, whose .213 average coming in was 140th among 143 qualified batters, followed with a sharp liner to right, and Chapman scored with a headfirst slide ahead of Jarrod Dyson’s throw.

“This is a veteran guy, the moment’s not too big for him,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s done it plenty of times. Doesn’t surprise me. He’s done it against us many times over the years.”

Andrus delivered the game-winning hit not long after his defense helped the Royals tie the game.

Andrus made a two-out fielding error on Michael Taylor’s grounder to shortstop that led to an unearned run in the eighth. Andrus then was slow on his throw to second baseman Jed Lowrie on Hanser Alberto’s grounder, extending the inning.

“When you make an error (you) always want redemption,” Andrus said. “It’s not too often you get the opportunity.”

Seth Brown homered to snap a long funk for the A’s. Chapman had three hits including an RBI double.

Salvador Pérez hit solo homers in the seventh against Cole Irvin and the eighth against former teammate Jake Diekman, becoming the first Kansas City player to homer twice from the seventh inning on since Mike Moustakas at Baltimore on Sept. 12, 2015. He joined Bo Jackson in 1987 as the only Royals with three multihomer games by the end of June.

“He’s been amazing all season long,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “When we need big hits he seems to find it.”

Kansas...

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