Kansas City's Brian Bannister works against the Athletics in the first inning. Oakland pounded Kansas City, 13-2, on Friday night in Oakland, Calif.

Oakland, Calif. ? Bobby Crosby homered and drove in five runs, Chad Gaudin had his strongest outing of the season, and the Oakland Athletics snapped a three-game losing streak with a 13-2 victory over Kansas City on Friday night.

Emil Brown and Ryan Sweeney added three hits apiece for the A’s, who broke out of a weeklong offensive slump with their highest run total of the season, including a four-run sixth inning against Royals starter Brian Bannister.

The A’s scored only seven runs in their previous seven games before tagging Bannister and four relievers for 15 hits, matching their season-high set in a 9-7 victory over Cleveland on April 11.

Crosby led the onslaught with a bases-loaded double in the sixth and a three-run homer in the ninth. Oakland’s shortstop, who was just 3-for-24 in his previous six games, finished 3-for-4 with two doubles while setting a career high for RBIs.

Gaudin was on the disabled list to begin the season and was tagged for nine runs in 10 innings during his first two starts. He had little problem against the Royals and their inept offense, though.

Oakland’s right-hander scattered four hits over seven innings and struck out eight with one walk. After giving up an RBI single to Billy Butler in the third, Gaudin retired the final 12 batters he faced before giving way to Santiago Casilla to begin the eighth.

The A’s won despite committing an error in their 11th consecutive game.

Several Royals players and staff arrived at the ballpark only two hours before the game. A bus that was supposed to transport them never arrived at the team’s hotel in San Francisco, forcing the Royals to hire cabs for the trip across the Bay Bridge during rush-hour traffic.