Struggling Royals Lose Again

Winless rookie Kyle Snyder matched Mark Mulder pitch-for-pitch for five innings Thursday night, but Oakland scored four runs in the sixth inning as the Athletics beat the reeling Royals, 6-1, at Kansas City, Mo.

Mulder (8-2) is tied for the American League lead with eight wins and improved to 6-0 against Kansas City, giving up eight hits in seven innings. He lowered his earned-run average to 2.36 and pitched at least seven innings for the ninth straight start.

Snyder (0-3) has pitched well in five of his six starts.

“Snyder’s got great stuff,” Mulder said. “It just seemed like the one inning was his downfall. But for the most part he did a great job. The Royals have got something there.”

Oakland has won nine of its last 10 games against the Royals, who are 2-10 at home since starting the season 11-0 at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals (26-25) have lost four straight and 12 of 15. They are 10-22 after a 16-3 start.

Seattle 10, Minnesota 6 -- Bret Boone homered, doubled twice and drove in four runs and Gil Meche pitched seven-plus strong innings at Minneapolis.

In the first game of a four-game series between the division leaders, the Mariners tied their season high for hits with 18 and won for the 10th time in 13 games.

Texas 8, Baltimore 4 -- Hank Blalock went three for three, walked twice and scored two runs at Baltimore. Blalock boosted his batting average to .359, regaining the AL lead.

Chicago 3, Toronto 2 -- Esteban Loaiza gave up two runs in 7 2/3 innings against his former team as the White Sox won at Toronto.