Thursday's Babelicious Scoreboard

Beginning the afternoon near the bottom of the league in batting, scoring and homers didn't bother the Oakland Athletics one bit. They still managed to get past the Kansas City Royals' superb defense and outstanding pitching in an impressive 17-3 rout.

Dan Johnson, who went 4-for-4 with 2 walks and a triple shy of the cycle, smashed two bombs. Jack Cust also hit two, which were estimated at 414 and 417 feet, each of them splashing into the right field fountain.

Eric Chavez connected for Oakland as well, while Danny Putnam hit his first major league home run. The club set season highs for longballs, runs and hits (18), raising their collective batting average six points to .244.

Starter Joe Kennedy (1-2, 2.83 ERA) pitched six good innings and did not allow a hit until Billy Butler's two-out single in the fifth. He allowed three runs on four hits, striking out three and walking three.

Activated from the disabled list with a sore right shoulder just before the game, Luke Hudson (0-1, 18.00 ERA) lasted just two innings. He threw only 50 pitches (23 for strikes) and gave up five runs on two hits with four walks.

Emil Brown hit a two-run double and Mark Grudzielanek had an RBI double in the sixth inning for Royals.

[MLB]