Yastrzemski homers twice as Royals rout A's to finish season with a winning record

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Mike Yastrzemski hit two solo home runs, Cole Ragans struck out eight in 4 1/3 innings and the Kansas City Royals defeated the Athletics 9-2 on Sunday.

Yastrzemski hit a homer deep to right in the seventh inning off Michael Kelly and homered to right off Osvaldo Bido in the eighth. Yastrzemski hit 17 homers, including nine with the Royals after he was traded from the Giants at the deadline.

Michael Massey had four of Kansas City’s 15 hits. Catcher Carter Jensen had three, including a homer just after Yastrzemski’s seventh-inning home run.

Bobby Witt Jr. hit a two-run double in the seventh. The Kansas City shortstop led the majors in hits for the second straight year. He had 184 this season after collecting 211 in 2024.

Ragans limited the A’s to two hits and a walk. Lefty Daniel Lynch IV (6-2) got the victory. Lynch entered the game with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth and escaped the jam by striking out Nick Kurtz.

Kurtz hit an opposite-field two-run homer off lefty Sam Long in the eighth. The Athletics’ first baseman leads all rookies in home runs (36), RBIs (86), runs (90) and walks (63).

Brady Basso (1-1), the first of seven Athletics pitchers, took the loss.

Key moment

Ragans struck out four consecutive hitters over the third and fourth innings. Max Muncy, Willie MacIver, Colby Thomas and Kurtz each went down on a swinging strike three.

Key stat

The three homers the A’s allowed Sunday boosted their season total to 222, a franchise record. The previous mark was 220, set by the 1964 Kansas City A’s.

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