KANSAS CITY -- After giving up five runs and a career-high three home runs in his previous outing in Baltimore, Royals left-hander Mike Montgomery was back in a groove on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Montgomery navigated through 6 1/3 innings, giving up just one earned run in a 2-1 loss to the A’s.

• Box score

“He pitched great,” manager Ned Yost said. “He gave us every opportunity to win the ballgame.”

Montgomery gave up a tainted run in the first inning on two infield hits, an error by third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert and a walk with the bases loaded.

“We lead the American League with [fewest] errors, but that error in the first definitely cost us a run,” Yost said.

Montgomery also gave up a run in the second inning on a double by Josh Phegley and an RBI single by Marcus Semien.

But from there, Montgomery was nails. He didn’t give up another hit and he retired 12 of the final 15 hitters he faced.

"I really wish I had that walk back with the bases loaded,” Montgomery said. “Second inning, I was really leaving some pitches out over. After that, I kinda just started executing more. Command got better. I started sequences a little bit better and getting quick outs. My goal was try to rebound and try to pitch into the sixth. I ended up getting into the seventh."

Montgomery certainly bounced back in strong fashion from his outing against the Orioles last Wednesday at Camden Yards.

"I actually felt better physically [in Baltimore],” Montgomery said, “but every start is different. It's just one of those things where if you execute pitches consistently enough, you're going to get good results."

Trailing 2-0, the Royals scored in the sixth on a single by Hunter Dozier and an RBI double by Alex Gordon.

But the Royals were just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and they had three runners cut down on the bases.

“We had opportunities to get a big hit,” Yost said. “Just didn’t happen.”

One of the runners was cut down in the third inning. Meibrys Viloria and Nicky Lopez singled with none out. Then, Whit Merrifield shot a single through the six-hole, and third-base coach Mike Jirschele sent Viloria home.

Viloria was thrown out rather easily by rookie left fielder Seth Brown. The Royals could have had the bases loaded with none out, and Jorge Soler, Dozier and Gordon coming up.

“It was aggressive,” Yost conceded. “I’ve done it [in the past] a lot. It happens.”

Merrifield suggested it was just yet another night of offensive frustration.

“That’s kinda been the story [for us],” he said. “We hit balls hard, and they get caught. We can’t find a blooper when we need one. Just can’t seem to push one across when we need to. Maybe we’re saving those all for next year.”