The Tampa Bay Rays (51-33) defeated the Kansas City Royals (35-53) 5-2 on Thursday evening in Kansas City. With the win, the Rays have now won eight in a row and are four games ahead of the New York Yankees in first place in the AL East.
Carter Jensen homered in the first for the Royals, but the Rays once had an answer. Tampa Bay got three runs in the second thanks to RBI hits from Taylor Walls, Richie Palacios and Hunter Fedducia. Leading 3-1, Cedric Mullins hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to make it 5-1 and give the Rays some insurance. Isaac Collins homered for Kansas City in the seventh to make it 5-2, but that would be as close as the Royals would get.
Ian Seymour (5-1, 4.02) got the win after allowing one earned run on three hits in six innings of work in which he struck out eight and walked one. Bryan Baker earned his 22nd save of the season after working a perfect ninth inning.
The Rays will look to stay hot when they travel to Houston to begin a three-game series against the Astros on Friday. Nick Martinez (7-2, 2.66) is scheduled to start for the Rays and face Spencer Arrighetti (7-4, 4.00) for the Astros. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 8:15 PM - Chris Adams-Wall begins pregame coverage at 7:30 PM on 95.7 WDAE & AM 620, your Home of Rays Baseball.
COVER PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES