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 eightgame 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.
Lorenzo Cain and Salvador Perez drove in runs off A's starter Jesse Hahn (0-1) in the first, and Brandon Moss added a lazy sacrifice fly in the third. The three runs matched what Kansas City's scuffling offense had managed in losing the first two games of the series.
Hahn settled down to last six innings, allowing six hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
Vargas missed most of last season following Tommy John surgery, but he pitched well in the handful of starts he made late in the year, leaving the Royals optimistic about his spot in the rotation.
He also doubled down on his conditioning while his elbow was recovering, and arrived to training camp leaner and more athletic. And that paid off in the seventh inning, when Vargas deftly leaped off the mound to snare a hard bounder and start a double play to escape his only real jam.
Things weren't nearly as tidy for the A's, who committed two more errors in the series finale. They came into the game tied for the American League lead with nine, and have committed at least one error in seven consecutive games — matching their longest streak from last season.
The Royals became the last team in the big leagues to commit an error of their own when Alcides Escobar booted a grounder with two outs in the eighth. Vargas was lifted afterward to a standing ovation, and Joakim Soria promptly got Marcus Semien to ground out and end the inning.
RANGERS 8, ANGELS 3 Yu Darvish pitched seven scoreless innings and Carlos Gomez hit a leadoff homer in the Texas Rangers’ comprehensive 8-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday. Nomar Mazara also homered and Robinson Chirinos drove in three runs for the Rangers, who took two of three from their AL West rivals. Darvish (1-1) struck out 10 and limited the Halos to five singles and two walks, improving to 8-2 in his career against the Angels. Except for Los Angeles’ ninth-inning rally to a 10th-inning victory Tuesday, the Rangers thoroughly dominated the Angels, outscoring them 16-6 in the final two games.
YANKEES 3, RAYS 2 Aaron Hicks homered twice, including a go-ahead, two-run drive in the seventh inning, and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 Thursday night to move above .500 for the first time this season. Luis Severino (1-0) struck out a career-high 11 in seven innings, including four of his last five batters. The Yankees completed a three-game sweep and won their fourth in a row following a 1-4 start. Hicks homered in the first off Matt Andriese batting left-handed and connected right-handed against Xavier Cedeno to erase a 2-1 deficit. Ronald Torreyes singled with one out in the seventh off Erasmo Ramirez, and Rays manager Kevin Cash brought in Cedeno (1-1), the only lefty in his bullpen. Jacoby Ellsbury grounded into a forceout, and Hicks sent a changeup into the left-field seats.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CUBS 4, DODGERS 0 Brett Anderson beat his former team with five solid innings, center fielder Albert Almora Jr. made two outstanding catches against the ivy and the Chicago Cubs blanked the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 Thursday. Anderson (2-0) won in his Wrigley Field debut for the Cubs. The lefty lowered his ERA to 0.84 through two starts with his new club. Anderson, the only member of the Cubs without a World Series ring after Wednesday’s celebration, allowed three hits but walked four. He stranded seven runners, helped by Almora’s defense. Anthony Rizzo and Addison Russell hit long solo home runs, their first of the season. Both came off Hyun-Jin Ryu (0-2).
INTERLEAGUE
RED SOX 4, PIRATES 3 Xander Bogaerts’ RBI single capped a three-run rally in the eighth inning Thursday, lifting the Boston Red Sox over the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 in a makeup from a rainout in the opening series. Boston ended up sweeping Pittsburgh in three games at Fenway Park after winning the first two games of the season. Andrew McCutchen tied Barry Bonds for fourth on Pittsburgh’s all-time list with his first homer of the season, but the Pirates lost their fourth straight. Matt Barnes (2-0) worked one inning of hitless relief. Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth for his third save.