KANSAS CITY -- That Jon Lester was on the mound surely increased the A's chances of winning Tuesday night against the Royals. But nothing is guaranteed when they keep trotting out a feast-or famine offense.The A's happily gorged themselves all night at the plate, shaking off Monday's series-opening loss in which they collected just three hits with a 20-hit, 11-3 victory to even this four-game set with the Royals. 
Lester, naturally, was good, too, striking out nine in six innings of work. The lefty, on the heels of a three-hit shutout, allowed six hits this time, leading to three runs. By that point, the A's had already given him six.Josh Donaldson was responsible for the seventh run, courtesy of a solo shot to lead off the seventh against Bruce Chen, and also the 11th, via his career-high 25th homer in a four-run eighth, giving him three multi-homer games this year.Donaldson exited the night with a total of three hits and four RBIs. Sam Fuld also enjoyed a three-hit night, but it was Brandon Moss, who went 2-for-28 on the last homestand, who chipped in with a career-high four hits and two RBIs. He's now 5-for-7 in this series following a rare slump.Amid a stretch in which they've endured trouble capitalizing on multiple scoring opportunities, the A's plated runs in six different innings on this night, getting six of their runs (four earned) off starter Jeremy Guthrie in just 4 2/3 innings.Lester, now 3-0 in as many starts with the A's, allowed all of his runs in the fifth. He struck out the side in two of his six frames and walked two in the outing.Right-hander Ryan Cook relieved him in the seventh and struck out two of his own batters in a clean frame to extend his scoreless-innings streak to 20, which is the longest active streak in the Majors.Jane Lee / MLB.com
Lester, naturally, was good, too, striking out nine in six innings of work. The lefty, on the heels of a three-hit shutout, allowed six hits this time, leading to three runs. By that point, the A's had already given him six.Josh Donaldson was responsible for the seventh run, courtesy of a solo shot to lead off the seventh against Bruce Chen, and also the 11th, via his career-high 25th homer in a four-run eighth, giving him three multi-homer games this year.Donaldson exited the night with a total of three hits and four RBIs. Sam Fuld also enjoyed a three-hit night, but it was Brandon Moss, who went 2-for-28 on the last homestand, who chipped in with a career-high four hits and two RBIs. He's now 5-for-7 in this series following a rare slump.Amid a stretch in which they've endured trouble capitalizing on multiple scoring opportunities, the A's plated runs in six different innings on this night, getting six of their runs (four earned) off starter Jeremy Guthrie in just 4 2/3 innings.Lester, now 3-0 in as many starts with the A's, allowed all of his runs in the fifth. He struck out the side in two of his six frames and walked two in the outing.Right-hander Ryan Cook relieved him in the seventh and struck out two of his own batters in a clean frame to extend his scoreless-innings streak to 20, which is the longest active streak in the Majors.Jane Lee / MLB.com
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