KANSAS CITY -- It took until the 33rd game of the season, but the A’s finally have a starting pitcher with a “W” next to his name.

In Oakland’s 12-8 victory over the Royals on Friday night, left-hander Kyle Muller benefitted from his team’s early offensive explosion and hung on for 5 ⅓ innings to gain credit for the victory. Coming into the opener of the road trip, the A’s starting rotation had gone 32 games without a win (0-16). There have been plenty of times where the starters have left a game in line for the win but the bullpen later gave it up.

It wasn’t Muller’s best outing, but he’ll take it and not look back. The lefty gave up eight hits and was charged with five runs, but the A’s kept the Royals at arm’s length after charging to an early lead.

“It has been a long time coming,” Muller said. “We [the starting rotation] have had some opportunities but fell a little short. It’s kind of bittersweet. I don’t think the performance was deserving of the first [starter win]. Mason [Miller] went seven no-hit [innings]. That’s kind of what you picture for the first win. But I’m glad we got it out of the way and can get rolling from here.”

Muller got out of the fifth by inducing Salvador Perez to bounce into a double play and the Oakland starter pumped his fist in celebration as he left the mound with a 9-3 lead. But Muller was in trouble in the sixth and the bullpen came on and wavered. By the time Hunter Dozier was credited with a two-run triple in the seventh -- a liner that eluded center fielder Esteury Ruiz -- the Royals were within a run of Kansas City at 9-8.

But Oakland stopped the Kansas City momentum cold with a tack-on rally in the eighth which was ignited by Ryan Noda, who reached base five times, and Brent Rooker, who connected for his 10th homer.

“It’s something that this club has shown, a lot of fight and resiliency,” A's manager Mark Kotsay said. “We just had a tough series against Seattle where we couldn’t tack on runs. Tonight in the eighth, we were able to do that. Breathing room, right? Wins have been tough to come by and it’s really nice to finish a game like that.”

The A’s can move forward now and not be burdened by the talk of a winless starting rotation.

“The starting pitching thing, in terms of getting them a win, we’ve had several opportunities and haven’t been able to close it down for them,” Kotsay said. “Tonight was big. Getting that out of the way and not letting it be a distraction anymore.”

Kotsay said the 32-game winless streak for the starting rotation weighed not only on the guys who take the ball every fifth day but also on the bullpen.

“The whole pitching staff feels the weight,” Kotsay said. “It’s a collection of guys.”

At the top of the lineup, Oakland took Kansas City's pitching to task. Their top three hitters in the lineup -- Ruiz, Noda and Rooker -- combined to go 9-for-15 with three hits apiece. Second baseman Tony Kemp chipped in with three hits and a couple of sparkling defensive plays.

Now, the A’s will turn their attention toward trying to get a series win for the first time this season.

“Any time you have young players at this level who are trying to solidify themselves as Major League players, it’s nice to see the positive results,” Kotsay said.