Josh Reddick’s sacrifice fly off Joakim Soria broke an eighth-inning tie and lifted the Oakland Athletics over the Kansas City Royals 3-2 Sunday.

Soria (1-1) relieved to start the eighth, Billy Burns tripled into the right-field corner and Reddick flied to center with one out.

John Axford (2-0) induced three consecutive groundouts in the eighth, and Ryan Madson pitched a one-hit ninth for his fourth save in as many chances, retiring Raymond Fuentes on a game-ending lineout to first with a runner on second.

Soria lost for the first time since July 11.