Oakland starter Jon Lester gets ready to unleash a pitch against the Royals. (photo/MLB)
With a mighty thud, the Royals eight game win streak came to an end. A combination of Oakland’s bats waking up and the prospects of facing red hot Jon Lester was just too much as the Royals lost 11-3 on Tuesday night.
However, Pittsburgh beat Detroit for the second night in a row, keeping the Royals a half game up in the AL Central.
Lester (13-7) has won all three of his starts since joining the A’s in a trade from Boston. He pitched six innings and allowed three runs while striking out nine. Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain doubled in the Royals’ three-run fifth.
The Royals have won 11 of their last 13. Their two losses have been against Lester.
Josh Donaldson homered twice and drove in four runs. He homered in the seventh and eighth off left-hander Bruce Chen and added an RBI double in the first and a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie (8-10) allowed six runs on 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings.
