Elvis Andrus went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs as the Oakland A's amassed a season-high 18 hits while defeating the host Kansas City Royals 12-10 on Wednesday night.

The Royals, who were down by seven heading into the bottom of the seventh, had the tying run on second with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

Kansas City's Andrew Benintendi tied a career high with five hits and added four RBIs.

Oakland's Sean Manaea (10-9) survived a shaky start to pick up the win. He allowed five runs on nine hits in five innings with one walk and three strikeouts. Carlos Hernandez (6-2) took the loss, allowing seven runs on nine hits and four walks in four-plus innings. He fanned three.

Andrew Chafin yielded a run in 1 1/3 innings but still emerged with his fourth save.

The A's (78-67) remained 3 1/2 games behind the three teams tied for the two American League wild-card spots, the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

Oakland and Kansas City will play the rubber game of the three-game series on Thursday.

The Royals (66-79), who finished with 17 hits, grabbed the lead in the first on an RBI single by Benintendi.

The A's responded in the second with a two-out, two-run single by Andrus. The Oakland shortstop has 11 hits and seven of his 36 RBIs in six games against the Royals this season.

Matt Olson walked leading off the third and eventually scored on a single by Mark Canha.

The A's added two more runs in the fourth on a home run by Olson, giving him 101 RBIs for the season. It's the first time in his career he reached the century mark in RBIs.

The Royals got three runs in the fourth. Adalberto Mondesi had an RBI groundout with the bases loaded and no outs, and Hanser Alberto added a two-run single to cut the deficit to 5-4.

Canha and Seth Brown singled to open the Oakland fifth, chasing Hernandez. Tyler Zuber walked Yan Gomes, allowed an RBI single to Tony Kemp and gave up a two-run single to Josh Harrison, stretching the lead back to four runs.

Salvador Perez hit his 44th home run in the bottom of the fifth. He leads the majors with 110 RBIs.

The A's added four more in the seventh on five singles and an error.

The Royals got a run in the bottom of seventh on Benintendi's fourth hit. They added three more in the eighth, including two on Benintendi's fifth hit.

After getting within 12-10 in the ninth, Kansas City had the bases loaded with two outs before Ryan O'Hearn grounded back to the mound to end the game.

--Field Level Media