OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – The Kansas City Royals won their second straight game following a 19-game losing streak, with Emil Brown hitting a go-ahead single in the 12th inning Sunday for a 5-4 win over the Oakland Athletics.

After overcoming a 1-0 deficit in Saturday night’s 2-1 win, the Royals came back from three runs down in the eighth inning Sunday and won consecutive games for the first time since July 26-27 against the Chicago White Sox,

Oakland went 4-8 on a homestand that saw the Los Angeles Angels move past the A’s into the AL West lead. The Athletics, who had been 5-0 at home in extra innings, lead the wild-card race by a half-game over Cleveland and the New York Yankees.

Denny Hocking reached against Kiko Calero (2-1) with an infield single opening the 12th, took second on Mike Sweeney’s single and third on Joe McEwing’s sacrifice. Brown then singled to right against a drawn-in infield.

Jimmy Gobble (1-0) pitched three hitless innings

A’s starter Joe Blanton allowed five hits in seven innings, extending his scoreless streak against the Royals to 13 innings.

Jay Witasick allowed all three batters he faced to reach opening the eighth. He walked Chip Ambres, Hocking got on because of third baseman Eric Chavez’s throwing error and Sweeney was hit on the right thumb by a pitch.

Joe Kennedy relieved, and Matt Stairs hit a two-run double on a drive to center that Mark Kotsay appeared to lose in the sun as it bounced on the warning track and over the fence. Brown hit a run-scoring infield groundout and Terrence Long followed with a sacrifice fly.

Jay Payton’s two-out single in the bottom half tied the score 4-all, Mike MacDougal’s third blown save in 19 chances.

Royals starter Runelvys Hernandez left after two innings with tightness in his lower back. He tried warming up for the third but manager Buddy Bell replaced him after conferring with Hernandez and trainer Frank Kyte.

Oakland took a 3-0 lead in the sixth against Shawn Camp on Bobby Crosby’s RBI single, Dan Johnson’s sacrifice fly and Jay Payton’s RBI grounder.

Notes: Hocking made his second start since joining the Royals on Aug. 6. … During pregame drills, A’s players wore backpacks featuring the likeness of Crosby in pre-game drills. The backpacks were part of a fan promotion. … Chavez was to return home after the game to be with his wife (Alex) for the birth of their first child.

AP-ES-08-21-05 2008EDT

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