Coming into Wednesday's game against the Kansas City Royals, Lawrence Butler needed a big hit. He entered the contest on a 3-for-19 skid, despite his advanced data actually out-performing the numbers he'd produced on the year. With one swing of the bat in the bottom of the fourth, Butler brought his numbers a little closer to the expected stats with a three-run homer that put the A's up 4-1, and they never looked back. The blast was his third of the season, and his first since April 13 against the Texas Rangers. Mark Kotsay talked about Butler's struggles before the game, saying, "All of his hard-hit contact is not resulting in hits early in the season. I do feel like his at-bats overall, if you look at the collection of at-bats, they're still good. They're solid." Not long after those comments, Butler proved his manager correct.…