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Athletics' Moss sets postseason franchise record with 5 RBIs

John Rieger / USA Today Sports

Brandon Moss picked the right time to bust out of his slump.

Facing elimination in a hostile environment at Kauffman Stadium, Moss did everything he could to help advance the Oakland Athletics to the American League Division Series. 

Moss crushed a pair of homers and drove in five runs in Tuesday's AL wild-card game, but the A's lost a heartbreaker, falling to the Kansas City Royals 9-8 in 12 innings. The five RBIs are the most by an A's player in a postseason game. 

The designated hitter, who will undergo microfracture surgery on his right hip during the offseason, struggled through an injury-plagued second half, batting just .173/.310/.274, but exploded in the losing effort.

Moss put the A's on the board in the first inning by launching a two-out bomb on an 0-1 changeup from Royals ace James Shields, giving Oakland a 2-0 lead.

The Royals had taken a 3-2 advantage when Moss stepped to the plate with two on and none out in the sixth, prompting manager Ned Yost to lift Shields for flamethrower Yordano Ventura. 

Yost's decision backfired, as Moss connected on a 98-mph fastball from Ventura, driving it to dead center field to record his first career multi-homer game in the postseason. 

The Royals eventually clawed back and won the back-and-forth affair on a walk-off single from Salvador Perez.

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