Seth Lugo claims AL-leading 7th win as the Royals beat A's 5-3 and move 9 games over .500

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Seth Lugo struck out 10 and earned his American League-leading seventh victory as the Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics 5-3 Saturday night.

The Royals improved to 28-19, nine games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2015 season, when they went on to win the World Series. Kansas City also claimed its eighth series win of the season, a mark the Royals didn't reach until mid-September in 2023.

“With this pitching staff, we don't need much,” second baseman Michael Massey said. "When a hitter is on a hot streak, at what point is he just good and not on a hot streak? I feel like that's where we're starting to get as a team. It's not really a streak. We're just playing the way we're supposed to play.

“We're just a good team.”

Oakland lost its seventh straight game, the team's longest skid of the season.

Lugo (7-1) allowed two runs on six hits with a walk in 5 2/3 innings. The 34-year-old right-hander had his second straight double-digit strikeout game and became the eighth Royals pitcher to accomplish that feat. James McArthur picked up his 11th save.

But Lugo was not satisfied.

“The starter's job is to pitch deep into the game,” he said. “When (John) Schreiber's having to go multiple innings and three relievers are used, I feel like the standard should be to pitch deeper and to take the load off (the bullpen).”

His manager was much more complimentary.

"You feel really good that he's going to keep you in it” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said. ”His stuff looked really good. The home run pitch was just him not getting the ball where he wanted it.

“This was a good test for Lugo. This was the first night when it was really warm and humid, and you could see that they made him work.”

Ross Stripling (1-8) picked up his league-leading eighth loss. The 34-year-old righty allowed four runs on nine hits with no walks and two strikeouts in five-plus innings.

The Athletics had plenty of chances, pounding out 11 hits, but they only pushed across three runs.

“We just didn't get the big hit,” Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said. “They were able to capitalize with two outs. But, offensively, there were better signs.”

The Royals got to Stripling for a pair of runs in the first. Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. opened with singles. After the runners advanced to second and third on a groundout, Salvador Perez drove in both with a single to left field.

“I don't care when we score runs,” Quatraro said, “but it's better to get out to a lead. We knew Stripling was going to be tough.”

The Athletics answered in the second. Zack Gelof legged out a double before Seth Brown hit his fourth homer of the season, a 445-foot shot to center field to tie the score.

The Royals regained the lead in the fifth when Vinnie Pasquantino snapped an 0-for-14 slump with a two-out line drive single that scored Garcia. The Royals added to the lead in the sixth on an RBI single by Nelson Velazquez that scored Massey, who led off with a double.

The Athletics closed within a run on an RBI single by Brent Rooker in the seventh. But the Royals got that run back on a leadoff home run by Kyle Isbel, his fourth, in the bottom of the seventh.

UP NEXT:

The Athletics and Royals will close their three-game series Sunday afternoon. The Athletics will send LHP JP Sears (3-2, 3.96 ERA) to the mound to face RHP Brady Singer (3-2, 2.84 ERA).

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Oakland Athletics relief pitcher T.J. McFarland throws during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Royals' Michael Massey runs home to score on a single by Nelson Velazquez during the sixth inning of a baseball gameagainst the Oakland Athletics Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Royals' Michael Massey watches his RBIU single during the first inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez watches his two-run single during the first inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Royals' Vinnie Pasquantino watches his RBI single during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

PHOENIX (AP) — A judge on Friday rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to weigh a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Christopher Whitten said the wording the legislative council suggested is “packed with emotion and partisan meaning” and asked for what he called more “neutral” language. The measure aims to expand abortion access from 15 weeks to 24 weeks – the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb.

It would allow exemptions to save the woman’s life or to protect her physical or mental health. It would also prevent the state from adopting or enforcing laws that would forbid access to the procedure.

Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma, who is a co-chair of the legislative council, said the group will appeal the court’s decision to the state Supreme Court.

“The ruling is just plain wrong and clearly partisan,” said Toma, a Republican.

Aaron Thacker, communications director for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, noted that the final decision on the ballot itself remains in the air.

“There’s still a lot of scenarios at play," he said. "Even after the secretary certifies the signatures, the courts have to decide if counties can put it on the ballot or not."

Arizona for Abortion Access, the organization leading the ballot measure campaign, sued the council earlier this month over the suggested language and advocated for the term “fetus,” which the council rejected.

Attorney General Kris Mayes wrote in a motion to submit an amicus brief that “fetus" and “pregnancy” are both neutral terms that the council could adopt.

“It’s incredibly important to us that Arizona voters get to learn more about and weigh our measure in objective and accurate terminology,” said Dawn Penich, communications director for the abortion access group.

Democrats have centered abortion rights in their campaigns in this year’s elections. Organizers in five other states have also proposed similar measures that would codify abortion access in their state constitutions: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota.

Arizona organizers submitted more than double the amount of signatures needed for the measure to appear on the ballot.

FILE - Arizona abortion-rights supporters deliver over 800,000 petition signatures to the capitol to get abortion rights on the November general election ballot July 3, 2024, in Phoenix. A judge on Friday, July 26, rejected an effort by GOP lawmakers to use the term “unborn human being” to refer to a fetus in the pamphlet that Arizona voters will use to decide on a ballot measure that would expand abortion access in the state. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)