Jacob Lopez, who turned the mound into his personal playground. Lopez carved up Royals hitters like a Thanksgiving turkey, throwing six sparkling innings of shutout baseball, striking out nine batters, walking just one, and allowing a three hits. Lopez was so dominant, the Royals hitters looked as confused as tourists without GPS, swinging helplessly at pitches they had no shot at connecting with.

Offensively, the A’s struck early and often. Tyler Soderstrom’s sharp eye earned him a pair of crucial walks, leading to Max Muncy’s rocket of a homer in the second inning, making it a quick 2-0 lead. Luis Urías then cracked an RBI double in the fourth to keep the good times rolling. To put an exclamation point on the win, Lawrence Butler added his own fireworks, launching a line-drive homer to right-center in the seventh. That sealed the deal as the A’s head into tomorrow looking to turn two victories into a bona fide winning streak