Royal Hitters Are Baffled by Oquist

OAKLAND — Mike Oquist, who took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning, gave up two hits in 6 2/3 innings as the Oakland Athletics ended a losing streak at six games with a 5-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.

Oquist (5-3) did not give up a hit until Carlos Febles’ bloop single fell about five feet in front of right fielder Matt Stairs.

Oquist also gave up a line-drive single in the seventh to Larry Sutton and immediately was taken out of the game. He walked three, struck out two and was charged with two runs in his longest outing of the season.

Doug Jones pitched two innings for his third save. Mike Sweeney had an RBI grounder in the ninth.

Stairs had a two-run double in the third, a ball that went off the glove of right fielder Jermaine Dye. The A’s scored their third run in the fifth when first baseman Sutton misplayed Stairs’ grounder with a runner on second.

Oakland scored two runs in the seventh on a solo homer by Tim Raines, a double by Jason Giambi and three consecutive errors by the Royals.

The Royals’ first run came in the sixth on a run-scoring groundout by Carlos Beltran. Chad Kreuter had an RBI single in the seventh off T.J. Mathews.

Royal reliever Orber Moreno made his major league debut for Kansas City and pitched a perfect eighth inning. Kansas City shortstop Rey Sanchez left the game in the seventh because of lower back stiffness.