KANSAS CITY, Mo. » Kila Ka’aihue was just hoping to get the inning started. With one swing, he brought an end to the whole game.

The first baseman who prepped at ‘Iolani had struck out twice, but he slammed Michael Kohn’s second pitch of the ninth inning over the right-field fence for his first major league walkoff home run last night, lifting Kansas City past the Los Angeles Angels 2-1.

"I was just trying to get a hit and start us off," he said. "I got a good pitch to hit, and that’s it. Our team is playing really well. The emotions and confidence is high here."

Kohn (0-1) relieved Jordan Walden to start the ninth and was ahead 0-1 in the count when Ka’aihue connected.

"It was a fastball," said Ka’aihue, who said he hadn’t ended a game with a home run since his days in Double-A. It caught a lot of the plate and I put a good swing on it."

Kohn described the pitch in almost the exact same way.

"It was a fastball, called away and it caught too much of the middle of the plate and he put a good swing on it," he said. "You want to thrive in those pressure situations. Those are the spots you want to get put in. I definitely like being in that situation with the ball in my hand. I’ll do it every day if I can."

Joakim Soria (1-0) threw an eight-pitch ninth for Kansas City.

The Royals tied it 1-all in the fourth on an infield out by Jeff Francoeur after Billy Butler singled and moved up on a hit and a wild pitch.

Howie Kendrick gave the Angels a 1-0 lead on the eighth pitch that starter Jeff Francis threw as a Royal, swatting the full-count delivery over the fence in center for a 418-foot home run. But that was all the Angels would get off Francis, a 30-year-old who is still trying to make a full comeback from left shoulder surgery that sidelined him the entire 2009 season and part of 2010.

The Angels had at least one baserunner in five of the next six innings but could not break through against the 6-foot-5 left-hander, stranding runners in scoring position in the second, third and fifth.

Starters Dan Haren of the Angels and Francis both went seven impressive innings, allowing only one run and six hits.

Haren, going for his fourth win in his last five starts in Kansas City, hurt himself with a wild pitch that helped the Royals score their lone run off him. He had six strikeouts and no walks.

Francis, who signed as a free agent from Colorado, gave up five hits and one run, walking one and striking out four.

"It was a good game all the way around," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Francis gave up the home run in the first inning and was absolutely nails from that point on. The pitching was very, very good. We had some opportunities early. But Haren made some good pitches. Kila made all that for naught there in the ninth inning."