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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Once the Oakland Athletics started to
swing away in the seventh inning, they could not be stopped.
|  | | Frank Menechino scored one of eight A's runs in seventh inning when Royals catcher Jorge Fabregas missed the tag. |
The Athletics set an Oakland record with 10 hits in an inning on
their way to a 14-5 rout of the Kansas City Royals.
"That's cool," said Eric Chavez, who had one of three homers in an eight-run seventh. "They say hitting can be contagious and
it really was for us tonight."
Chavez, Terrence Long and Jason Giambi all homered as the
Athletics broke the record of nine hits in an inning that was
accomplished three times, most recently in the first against the
Angels on July 5, 1996.
"Sometimes guys start getting hits and it carries over to the
rest of the team," Oakland's Ben Grieve. "And sometimes when you get a big lead like that, pitchers are just trying to get the ball
over the plate, and that makes it even worse."
The A's sent 13 men to the plate against Jay Witasick and Jason Rakers in the seventh. Giambi and Grieve each had two hits and one RBI in the inning for the A's, who have won five of their last six
games on the road.
Ramon Hernandez was the only A's starter without a hit or an
RBI.
The A's had three homers and seven doubles in the 20-hit salvo.
Seven A's had at least two hits. Miguel Tejada had four, and Olmedo
Saenz and Frank Menechino had three apiece. Long had three RBI and
Tejada, Giambi, Grieve and Saenz all had two.
"Playing in the American League with a couple of bad nights out
of the bullpen and short outings by our starters, it sure gets
difficult," said Kansas City manager Tony Muser.
The A's were leading 4-2 when Giambi hit the first pitch from
Witasick for his 11th home run. After singles by Saenz and Grieve,
Long hit a three-run homer to make it 8-2.
Rakers relieved Witasick and one out later, Chavez hit his
fourth homer. Ryan Christenson added an RBI double, Tejada had a run-scoring single and Grieve capped the inning with an RBI double.
Gil Heredia (3-2) allowed two runs and 11 hits in 6 1/3 innings
for the win.
"We really put something together in that inning," said
Oakland manager Art Howe. "Long balls and hard line drives."
The Royals scored three in the bottom of the ninth and have seven walk-off wins this year.
"Everybody on this team knows that," said Grieve. "I'm sure
Art was starting to sweat."
Jeff Suppan (1-3) allowed three runs and six hits in five innings.
Kansas City's Carlos Beltran left the game with a wrist injury after saving a run with a great diving catch in left-center in the
third. Beltran, the 1999 AL rookie of the year, did a bellyflop
catching Grieve's two-out sinking liner and sustained a sprained
left wrist and was listed day-to-day.
The A's got a run in the first on a fielder's choice grounder by
Olmedo Saenz, then Mike Sweeney hit a two-run homer for the Royals
in the bottom of the first.
The A's went ahead 3-2 in the fifth on RBI singles by Tejada and
Saenz, then scored a run in the sixth on Menechino's RBI double.
Sweeney added a two-run single in the ninth. He went 3-for-5
with four RBIs.
Game notes
Royals 2B Carlos Febles made a fine play in the first with
runners at the corners and one out. He made a diving stop of
Saenz's grounder behind the bag and, flag on his stomach, flipped
the ball to SS Rey Sanchez for the force. ... Johnny Damon's
first-inning single stretched his hitting streak to 11 games. He
also leads the majors with 12 stolen bases and has not been thrown
out ... After Sweeney's homer, the Royals loaded the bases with one
out on three singles. But Heredia struck out Mark Quinn and got
Jorge Fabregas on a weak grounder. ... Matt Stairs was a late
scratch from the Oakland lineup with a sore left knee. He was
replaced in right field by Christenson.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Oakland Clubhouse
Kansas City Clubhouse
RECAPS
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