After button adjustment, Royals aim to sew up series sweep of A's

Pay close attention to Vinnie Pasquantino's jersey on Sunday afternoon when he and the Kansas City Royals go for a three-game sweep over the visiting Oakland Athletics.

Pasquantino snapped an 0-for-14 slump with an RBI single in the fifth inning of Kansas City's 5-3 win on Saturday.

The reason behind Pasquantino's long-awaited hit?

"I think it's because he was playing with the shirt unbuttoned (in the past), and he buttoned it up (on Saturday)," Royals manager Matt Quatraro said postgame. "It looked more professional."

Pasquantino, who went 1-for-4 on Saturday, credited Quatraro for the style change.

"He told me pregame that it looked awful with the two buttons down," Pasquantino said, "and I said, ‘Yeah, OK.' And then I got out my first two at-bats ... And I said, ‘You know what? Maybe he's onto something.' So I got a hit.

"... It's called good managing. I don't think enough credit is given to managers for moments like that -- just spotting out the little things within the game."

So, will Kansas City's first baseman stick with the more "professional" look?

"We'll see," he said.

Pasquantino never has faced Oakland left-hander JP Sears (3-2, 3.96 ERA), who will make his first start against the Royals in his third MLB season.

Sears threw a season-high 100 pitches in his most recent outing Tuesday against the Astros in Houston. Sears allowed one run over five frames and left with a no-decision in the Athletics' 2-1 loss in 10 innings.

Tuesday's setback was the third of Oakland's season-high seven-game losing streak entering Sunday.

The A's have struggled to generate offense amid their skid, averaging 1.86 runs and never scoring more than four in a game.

Saturday's showing was promising, though. Oakland banged out 11 hits, its most in a game since piling up 14 in a 12-11 home loss to the Texas Rangers on May 8.

Oakland's Abraham Toro collected two hits Saturday for the second straight game, leaving him 4-for-8 with a walk and two runs in the series from the leadoff spot.

"That's a good sign. We haven't had a game like that in a little while," Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. "It's unfortunate to be on the losing end, but for an offense with Toro getting us going and seeing some better at-bats, that's encouraging."

Despite Saturday's breakout game offensively, Oakland repeatedly failed to cash in on its increased base traffic.

The A's stranded nine runners and went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Oakland put the first two batters on to start the ninth inning before Kansas City reliever James McArthur induced a flyout and struck out JJ Bleday and Brent Rooker to end the game.

Kotsay said Saturday's performance played to the team's identity at the plate.

"We're an offense that can't necessarily put an inning together with multiple hits," he said. " ... We built some innings but just (weren't) able to capitalize."

The A's have scored four of their five runs this series via homers while striking out 23 times.

Kotsay's squad on Sunday will face Royals right-hander Brady Singer (3-2, 2.84 ERA), who is 0-3 with a 5.70 ERA across four career starts against Oakland.

Singer surrendered four runs on a season-high nine hits in Kansas City's 6-2 road loss to the Seattle Mariners on Monday.

--Field Level Media