Alex Gordon homered in the second inning and scored the decisive run in the ninth on Gregor Blanco’s fielder’s choice as the visiting Kansas City Royals defeated the Oakland Athletics 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Gordon doubled to lead off the ninth and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. With runners on first and third and one out, Blanco blistered a ball to the right of Oakland shortstop Cliff Pennington, who made a diving stop but only had a play at second as Gordon scored the go-ahead run.

Joakim Soria pitched a dominating ninth for his 30th save of the season as Kansas City defeated Oakland for the first time in five meetings this season.

Gordon hit his fourth homer of the year to stake Kansas City to an early 1-0 lead. Oakland’s Matt Watson singled home Rajai Davis in the fourth to tie the contest.

The Royals went ahead in the fifth on Chris Getz’s infield grounder and the Athletics tied the game in the bottom of the inning on Kurt Suzuki’s run-scoring double.

Jesse Chavez (1-0) recorded the victory with two innings of scoreless relief. Oakland’s Craig Breslow (4-3) took the loss.

Both starting pitchers gave up two runs – one earned – and five hits. Oakland’s Vin Mazzaro worked six innings before leaving, while Kansas City’s Kyle Davies pitched five.