Drew Rasmussen and four Tampa Bay relievers held reeling Kansas City to just three hits as the Rays sent the Royals to a ninth consecutive home defeat with a 3-0 decision on Wednesday.
Brandon Lowe, Josh Lowe and Chandler Simpson each had two hits for the Rays, whose 11 hits were all singles. Tampa Bay has won five straight road games and 24 of its past 33 contests overall.
Rasmussen (7-5) yielded two hits and two walks while striking out five over five innings. Kevin Kelly, Garrett Cleavinger, Edwin Uceta and Pete Fairbanks (14th save) further stymied the Royals, who have managed just one run in the first two games of the current three-game set.
Kansas City has been outscored 39-12 while 0-9 at home in June. The Royals are on their longest home losing streak since a 10-game slide in 2023.
Tampa Bay did all its scoring in the second against Michael Wacha (4-7), who yielded three runs on nine hits and one walk while fanning nine in six innings. Bobby Witt Jr. doubled and Maikel Garica and Vinnie Pasquantino singled for the Royals, who are 14-26 since sitting at 24-16 through May 9.
In the decisive second inning, Christopher Morel reached on a one-out infield single, went to third on Josh Lowe’s hit to right field and scored via a perfectly placed bunt toward first base by Jose Caballero.
The speedy Simpson then reached when Kansas City shortstop Witt was late on the throw to first of his grounder — where it appeared he could have tossed to third for a forceout. Lowe then scored on a wild pitch, and Caballero came home via Danny Jansen’s sacrifice bunt.
Fairbanks pitched around an error in the ninth inning to seal the victory.
Double-digit-game hitting streaks were extended by Tampa Bay’s Yandy Diaz (15 games), Brandon Lowe (12) and Jonathan Aranda (10).
Meanwhile, the Royals were shut out for the fourth time in their past nine home contests.
The Rays have won four of five overall while the Royals have dropped four in a row.
–Field Level Media
