KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jason Vargas carried a shutout into the eighth, the Royals finally generated some early offense and Kansas City held on to beat Oakland 3-1 on Thursday night and snap an eight-game skid against the A's.
Vargas (2-0) scattered four hits and a walk over 7 2/3 innings, striking out eight, in his second straight crisp performance. The left-hander only allowed one runner to reach second base in his longest outing since Aug. 13, 2014, when Vargas shut out the Athletics at Kauffman Stadium.
Kelvin Herrera served up a homer to Rajai Davis and a double to Jed Lowrie in the ninth, but bounced back to retire the next three batters and earn his first save.