In a well-pitched game, the KC Royals couldn’t complete the sweep, as they lost their finale to Oakland, 3-0.

It was a matchup of A’s rookie Dan Straily and Luke Hochevar.

Hochevar did not allow a hit until the 4th inning, but it was erased on an inning-ending double play. The A’s next hit came in the 6th inning with two outs, when Coco Crisp homered (it was reviewed and the call on the field was overturned) to give the A’s a 1-0 lead.

The longball bit Hochevar again in the 7th inning when Yoenis Cespedes hit a solo shot.

The problem for Hochevar was that his offense couldn’t do much against Straily and the A’s bullpen. They collected six hits (one more than the A’s) and Eric Hosmer picked up two of them. However, they went just 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and did not pick up an extra base hit.

One chance the Royals had to get on the scoreboard was in the 2nd inning. They had the bases loaded and two outs, but Chris Getz grounded out to end the inning.

Straily then retired eight in a row before Hosmer singled with one out in the 5th inning.

The Royals had another chance to score in the 7th inning when Straily exited with a runner on base and one out. Sean Doolittle entered and allowed two singles around a strikeout to load the bases. Jerry Blevins entered and got Getz to fly out to end the inning (that’s six left on base in two at-bats).

The Royals welcome the first-place Chicago White Sox starting on Friday night for another three-game series (they just won two out of three last week in Chicago).

*For more on the A’s, check out Oaktown Breakdown.