Chris Young has not allowed a run in his last 16 1/3 innings on the road
Although the Oakland Athletics' longest winning streak of the season has ended, Scott Kazmir has a chance to continue his success at home.
Kazmir brings the lowest home ERA in the majors into his start Saturday against the surging Kansas City Royals.
Beginning with a May 27 start in which he left after three innings because of shoulder tightness, Kazmir (4-4, 2.70 ERA) has yielded one run and seven hits in 18 1/3 innings while going 2-0 in his last three at home.
Kazmir's 1.27 home ERA in seven starts is MLB's best and remained intact after he allowed a run in 7 1/3 innings of a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.
"He's a gamer, man," Angels slugger Albert Pujols told MLB's official website about Kazmir. "That's what I like about him."
The left-hander gave up two runs in 7 1/3 innings while not factoring into the decision of a 4-2 loss at Kansas City on April 19. He also contributed to the bad blood that boiled over during that series by plunking Lorenzo Cain in the first inning.
Meeting Friday for the first time since that heated series, neither of the benches cleared and the only batter hit during Kansas City's 5-2 win was Oakland's Stephen Vogt -- albeit unintentionally by Franklin Morales in the ninth.
"Nobody on my team has even mentioned (the previous series) or thought about it, and I doubt very seriously anybody over there has," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "There's been a lot of time since that series and a lot of water under the bridge."
Vogt was hit in the wrist and hand, but X-rays were negative and he hopes to play.
"Obviously, it was painful, but I'll be OK," he said.
Alex Gordon homered for one of his three hits and Edinson Volquez yielded a run and three hits over seven solid innings as the AL-leading Royals (42-28) snapped Oakland's five-game winning streak by prevailing for the 12th time in 17 contests.
Gordon is batting .383 in his last 16 games and is 6 for 11 this season against the A's (34-42), who managed four hits after averaging 6.9 runs and 11.2 hits while winning nine of their previous 11.
Oakland will look to rebound against Chris Young (6-3, 2.83), who has not allowed a run in his last 16 1/3 innings on the road, but must bounce back after he was tagged for a season-high seven runs and three homers in 4 2/3 innings of Sunday's 13-2 loss to Boston.
"Over the course of the season you're going to have a few of (these games)," the 36-year-old Young said. "It's not enjoyable. You expect to be your best each time out, but that's not going to be the case."
The right-hander went 1-3 with a 4.38 ERA in five starts against the A's last season while with Seattle.
Former Royal Billy Butler is 1 for 6 versus Young and 1 for 19 in his last six games. He's 3 for 14 against his former team this season.
Teammate Sam Fuld, who has three RBIs in the last two games, is 4 for 7 with two home runs against Young.
