Kansas City manager Trey Hillman didn't want to bring back Ramon Ramirez. He certainly didn't want closer Joakim Soria pitching again, either. The game rapidly slipping away, Hillman had no choice but to bring in Ramirez and get Soria ready, too. Jose Guillen drove in three runs and Ramirez earned his first career save with Soria standing by, helping the Royals hold off the Oakland Athletics 9-6 on...

Joey Gathright hit a run-scoring single in the 10th inning, helping the Kansas City Royals open a doubleheader with a 5-4 win over the Oakland Athletics in front of a sparse crowd Thursday night. Esteban German reached on shortstop Bobby Crosby's throwing error leading off the 10th and moved to second on David DeJesus' sacrifice.

Mike Sweeney was eager for a chance to play against the Kansas City Royals, who he spent his first 11 1/2 seasons with. He'll have to wait another day. Sweeney signed with the Oakland Athletics just before the start of spring training after spending his entire career with Kansas City. He was activated Wednesday off the disabled list, but the game was rained out and has been rescheduled as a...

Billy Butler discovered that what used to work still does. Driving in four runs for the second time in three games, Kansas City's barrel-chested designated hitter went 3-for-4 while powering Kansas City past Oakland 5-2 on Tuesday night. "I got the mentality of `I'm going to let it rip and I'm going to stay through it,"' said Butler, who hit a three-run homer.

No longer a pitching prodigy, K-Rod still is putting up prodigious numbers. With 53 saves in 58 chances this year, the Los Angeles Angels' Francisco Rodriguez needs only four saves to match the major league single-season record set by Bobby Thigpen with the Chicago White Sox in 1990. And Rodriguez still has a month to do it.

Justin Morneau feels a lot better this year than he did in 2007 even though he heads into September about as sore as he was at this point last season. The difference? Minnesota's place in the standings. Morneau homered and drove in four runs, Scott Baker won for only the second time since the All-Star break and the Twins beat the Oakland Athletics 12-4 Sunday to earn a split of the four-game series...

When Minnesota closer Joe Nathan threw wildly to third base, Bobby Crosby's first reaction was to score. He hoped Oakland teammate Emil Brown had the same thought. Crosby scored the tying run on Nathan's throwing error and Brown followed close behind with the game-winner as the Athletics rallied in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Twins 3-2 on Saturday night.

Joe Mauer and the Minnesota Twins have played enough nail-biters lately that they welcomed a lopsided victory. Just the kind of win the club could use to really get rolling heading into the season's final month. Mauer matched his career high with five hits and had a season-best four RBIs, Kevin Slowey won his fourth straight decision and the Twins beat the Oakland Athletics 12-2 on Friday night.

Frank Thomas got a chuckle out of the realization his Oakland Athletics had finally strung consecutive wins together. It had been too long ago to remember the last time. "That's what we were laughing about: two in a row, whoo!" the Big Hurt said. "Three out of four, whoo!" Pinch-hitter Kurt Suzuki doubled in the winning run with one out in the ninth inning and the A's beat the Minnesota Twins 3-2 on...

The downtrodden Oakland Athletics finally won a series for the first time in over a month, and they did it against the team that's running away with the AL West. Emil Brown homered and drove in three runs, Rajai Davis had a career-high four hits and the Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-5 Wednesday night.

John Lackey saved the Los Angeles Angels' bullpen for a night. That wasn't nearly as important as Torii Hunter's helmet saving the Gold Glove center fielder from a serious head injury. Lackey came within two outs of his first shutout of the season, and Hunter was 3-for-4 with an RBI double as the runaway AL West leaders beat the Oakland Athletics 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Dallas Braden, batterymate Kurt Suzuki and left fielder Jack Cust made sure the Los Angeles Angels didn't run the Oakland Athletics out of the ballpark with their aggressive game. Braden picked off Chone Figgins in the first inning, Suzuki threw out the Angels' career base stealer in the third and Cust cut down a runner going from first to third -- the Angels' specialty -- in a 2-1 victory over...

For a team that has struggled to win even with its starters on the field, it just figures that two bench players would lead the Mariners to a victory. Kenji Johjima and Miguel Cairo went a combined 5-for-6 at the plate and scored four runs, helping Seattle to an 8-4 victory and a split of a four-game series with the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

Dana Eveland came back from Triple-A with different mechanics, and a different result. Eveland made a smooth return to the majors, pitching shutout ball into the seventh inning and helping the Oakland Athletics defeat the Seattle Mariners 5-1 Saturday night. "You've got to give some credit to Sacramento," A's manager Bob Geren said.

For all that went right for Seattle closer J.J. Putz last season, about the same has gone wrong for him this year. Putz, the 2007 Rolaids Relief Man Award winner in the American League, was relieved to earn his first save since June 9 in the Mariners' 7-5 victory over the Oakland Athletics. But even that was a struggle as he allowed two baserunners before inducing a game-ending double play.