All three Royals hits, including a pair of solo homers, produced runs as Kansas City ended a seven-game losing streak to Oakland (28-20) with a 3-1 win in front of 24,099 fans at Network Associates Coliseum.

The Royals (26-21) had lost six of their last seven games. The A's outhit the Royals, 7-3, but left 10 runners on base.

"I'm not ever going to say guys aren't scoring and that's why we're losing," Lilly said in response to the lack of run support. "I've got to look at myself in the mirror and say I made some mistakes today and gave up some home runs. I didn't go deep enough in the game and keep us tight."

One streak continued on Saturday, as A's outfielder Eric Byrnes, who batted leadoff for the seventh straight game, extended his hitting streak to 15 games. Byrnes grounded out in his first three at-bats before punching a single back up the middle in the seventh.

Byrnes also beat out an infield single in the ninth, putting two on against Royals closer Mike MacDougal with two outs, but Scott Hatteberg tapped back to the mound for the final out.

Lilly went 6 1/3 innings, and all three Royals runs were earned. He struck out seven and walked three. Lilly (3-3, 4.10) has given up nine home runs this season.

Kris Wilson (1-0, 4.10) made his first start of the season for the Royals, and he made it a good one, giving up four hits, no walks and the one run in five innings. Wilson, who last started a game Sept. 21, 2001, threw 67 pitches, 50 for strikes, for his first win of the season.

"Fortunately, I've been a starter and a reliever, so I really wasn't nervous," said Wilson, who has made 11 appearances in relief this season. "I was anxious."

Of Oakland's 20 losses, 14 have come by two runs or less.

"It's frustrating," Byrnes said, "but at the same time you can't discredit what Wilson did today. He was throwing strikes on both sides of the plate and keeping the ball down. I don't think I saw a pitch over the plate."

The A's immediately threatened against Wilson's replacement, Sean Lowe, loading the bases off him with one out in the sixth. Terrence Long popped out to shallow left, however, and Mark Ellis' sharp grounder was gobbled up by shortstop Angel Berroa, who flipped to second for the force to end the inning.

"We had an opportunity in the sixth and couldn't get it done," A's manager Ken Macha said. "It was a tough one on the offensive side today."

Lilly's wildness assisted in the Royals extending their lead to 3-1 in the seventh. He walked leadoff batter Carlos Beltran and advanced him to third on a pair of wild pitches. Michael Tucker scored Beltran with a single to right, ending the afternoon for Lilly.

Chad Bradford and Keith Foulke combined for hitless relief thereafter.

The teams traded home runs in the early innings. Royals designated hitter Mike Sweeney started things off in the first with his eighth of the season, a line drive that left the yard in a hurry, just clearing the wall in left.

Erubiel Durazo answered for the A's with a shot to right in the second, his seventh, but Joe Randa put Kansas City right back on top, 2-1, in the top of the third with his seventh of the year, depositing a two-out, 2-2 Lilly offering deep into the left-field bleacher seats.

"I tried to go in on both (home run balls) and missed," Lilly said. "You have to execute the pitch."

Lilly nearly gave up a third homer, but center fielder Chris Singleton tracked down a ball off the bat of Ken Harvey in the second and went over the wall to make the catch.