OAKLAND, Calif. New Balance Saldi Online . -- Sonny Gray has been so good over the past two months the Oakland Athletics havent needed to score runs in bunches. On Friday night, with slugger Yoenis Cespedes gone to the Boston Red Sox, they had no answer for Jeremy Guthrie. Raul Ibanez homered on Grays lone mistake, breaking his own franchise record for oldest Royals player to clear the fences and leading Kansas City past the As 1-0 on Friday night. The 42-year-old Ibanez connected in the fifth inning for his fifth homer, giving Guthrie the lone run he needed for Kansas Citys first victory at the Oakland Coliseum since April 10, 2012. The Royals went 1-5 against the As last season, including 0-3 on the road. "Theres no doubt about it, with the pitching matchups were facing in this series, this was a huge win for us," manager Ned Yost said. Gray (12-4) hung tough in a pitchers duel with Guthrie. The right-hander struck out seven in seven innings and didnt walk a batter for the first time all year. "You get spoiled because it seems like hes doing it every time out. He has done it every time out," As manager Bob Melvin said. "Hes been as consistent as a pitcher can be." Gray had his five-start winning streak snapped with his first losing decision in eight outings dating to a June 13 home loss against the Yankees. "The past is the past and you move on," Gray said. "Obviously I had a good month. That doesnt matter." Guthrie (7-9) struck out six in six innings to win his second straight outing following a three-start skid as the Royals beat the team with baseballs best record for their third straight win and eighth in 10. It could get tougher Saturday, when Jon Lester makes his As debut two days after being traded by the Red Sox. The As struggled to get anything going and lost for the third time in four games a day after trading two-time reigning Home Run Derby champion Cespedes to the Red Sox for Lester and Jonny Gomes. Guthrie struck out the side in the sixth, retiring Brandon Moss and Jed Lowrie on consecutive called third strikes. Nori Aoki doubled leading off the game and advanced on a wild pitch, but Gray retired the next three batters in order to avoid damage. Grey had five or more strikeouts in each of his five July outings, going 5-0 with a 1.03 ERA for the month. ROYALS BULLPEN: Kansas Citys bullpen delivered again. The steady pitching has been key in winning a recent run of close games. Greg Holland followed scoreless innings by Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis for his 30th save in 32 chances -- and third in as many games. "Its one of those situations where youre in a 1-0 game with a tough pitching staff over there, you know theres not going to be a lot of runs scored so you want to go on with your best guys," Yost said. TRAINERS ROOM: Royals: First baseman Eric Hosmer, who will be out three to six weeks after sustaining a stress fracture of the third finger on his right hand Thursday, is likely headed to the disabled list Saturday. Yost said more testing is likely but a hand specialist has already evaluated him. "Its a non-displaced stress fracture," Yost said. "That means it doesnt need to be casted, doesnt need surgery, just needs time to heal. Hes a pretty quick healer, but its probably going to be a 3-4 week ordeal." Athletics: Center fielder Coco Crisp received pain-relieving trigger-point injections in his strained neck over recent days. Crisp missed his fifth straight game and Melvin said he needs to take swings to test the neck before returning. FULDS RETURN: Sam Fuld started in centre field and batted leadoff one day after returning to Oakland where he began the season following a trade from Minnesota. His leadoff double in the fourth was the first hit off fellow ex-Stanford player Guthrie. ON DECK: Royals: Left-hander Jason Vargas (8-4, 3.31 ERA) makes his first start since July 8. He underwent an appendectomy the next day after he experienced discomfort. Athletics: Lester pitches on seven days rest after getting scratched Wednesday ahead of the trade deadline. Lester (10-7, 2.52 ERA) is 4-0 with a 1.07 ERA over his last eight starts. New Balance Scontate . Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. New Balance In Offerta . Moors, from Cambridge Ont., landed a double-twisting, double somersault in the layout position, en route to a score of 14.600 points in the womens floor exercise, more than a full point ahead of runner-up Pia Tolle of Germany. http://www.newbalanceoutlet.it/ .Y. - Geno Smith still thinks of himself as the New York Jets starting quarterback. ROCHE-SUR-YON, France -- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet beat Lleyton Hewitt and Chris Guccione 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 7-5 to give France an unassailable 3-0 lead over Australia and a spot in the Davis Cup quarterfinals on Saturday. Hewitt and Guccione were previously undefeated in the Davis Cup as a doubles team, but Tsonga and Gasquet overpowered them by hitting 21 aces to 4, and 74 winners to 38. The Australians rallied from a 3-0 deficit and won the opening set when Hewitt hit a return winner off Gasquets serve. However, Guccione failed to serve out the second set at 5-3 as the match turned in Frances favour. "If we could have gone up two sets to love, it could have been a different story," Hewitt said. In the tiebreaker, the French team jumpedd to a 6-3 lead after Guccione netted a backhand volley and Tsonga slapped a forehand winner. New Balance Outlet Italia. Tsonga fired an ace to level at one set apiece. The French pair did not face any break points in the third and fourth sets. The hosts went a set up when Gasquet whipped a forehand pass down the middle and won the match when Gasquet hit a powerful backhand that Hewitt could not return. "Its a feeling of accomplishment," Tsonga said. "We played three good matches. We played unbelievable again today." On Friday, Tsonga cruised past Hewitt 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (2), and Gasquet routed Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-2. France will face Germany in the quarterfinals while Australia will compete in the playoffs to stay in the World Group. ' ' '