KANSAS CITY -- Tony Kemp was in search of a way to ease the stress of what had been a back-and-forth contest against the Royals through much of Saturday afternoon. He found that escape within the first row of seats behind home plate at Kauffman Stadium.

Standing in the on-deck circle to begin the top of the eighth inning of what was a two-run A’s lead at the time, Kemp decided to strike up a conversation with a group of Royals fans. The discussion mostly focused on a local casino the fans told Kemp they’d be visiting after the ballgame. Soon after, the chat shifted to playful banter.

“We had just been going back and forth, talking about the casino that they were going to,” Kemp said. “I told them I like to play craps. Then they were like, ‘All right, well we need you to get out right here.’”

Watching Nick Allen lead off the inning with a six-pitch walk, Kemp bid farewell to his friendly rivals and made his way to the plate. Six pitches later, the left fielder hit his own jackpot at the plate, launching a towering two-run homer off Taylor Clarke that narrowly cleared the wall in right field at an estimated 362 feet. Upon crossing home plate and exchanging high-fives with Allen and on-deck hitter Ramón Laureano, Kemp returned to the section of fans and reached out for high-fives through the protective netting behind the plate.

“I feel like, sometimes, just talking with fans helps you take your mind off the game a little bit and relaxes you in some tense situations,” Kemp said. “I hit the home run and they were all standing and just cheered. It was good fun.”

Kemp’s homer proved pivotal, as it extended Oakland’s lead to four runs in what ended up a 9-7 victory to snap a four-game losing skid. It was a much-needed win that had Kemp's fingerprints all over it.

In addition to the clutch blast, Kemp helped produce some early scoring for the A’s, leading off the game with a double and later coming around to score on Seth Brown’s single.

“TK was a spark plug to the offense,” said A’s manager Mark Kotsay. “He got us going early. Then the home run. Great game for Tony today.”

The two-hit performance might have been overshadowed by Kemp adding to an already impressive defensive resumé this season with yet another highlight-reel play, when he perfectly timed a jump in the air to rob MJ Melendez of extra bases and likely multiple RBIs with a leaping grab on a ball scorched 101.5 mph off the bat to end the first inning.

Kemp’s catch made up for an error one batter earlier by Jonah Bride, who was called for defensive interference trying to tag out Andrew Benintendi on a rundown between second and third base.

“After that interference call, I didn’t want a bloop to just fall in and cause a ‘Here we go again’ type of situation,” Kemp said. “Melendez had been swinging a hot bat. I took my first step in. It wasn’t the best jump or the best read. The ball had some backspin to it. I just tried to put a glove on it and it ended up being a big play.”

The defensive gem was also a boost for rookie starter Jared Koenig, helping him keep Kansas City off the board early.

“Especially after what happened the at-bat prior, to end the first inning like that was huge,” said Koenig, who allowed three runs on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts across 4 2/3 innings. “Just to be able to end that inning with a nice catch, it kind of gave us a little extra pick-me-up.”

Ensuring Kemp’s major contributions did not go to waste was Lou Trivino, who took a big step toward climbing out of his struggles this season to record the final six outs and slam the door on Kansas City.

Entering the day with a rough 8.35 ERA over his first 25 appearances, Trivino took over in the eighth for Sam Moll, who’d just allowed a four-run lead to shrink to one run after surrendering a three-run homer to Michael A. Taylor. Though Trivino walked the first batter he faced, the right-hander bounced back to keep the Royals off the board in the inning.

Back out for the ninth, Trivino finished the job for what was the second six-out save of his career, capping a win for the A’s that gives them a chance Sunday at earning their first series victory since May 23-25 in Seattle.

“That’s the Lou I’ve seen in the past and what we hope to see in the future,” Kotsay said. “Each guy picked each other up. Every single guy that came into that game grinded. This game showed this team’s fight.”