 took over. Chirinos gave up three runs on four hits while striking out four in five innings.Sergio Romo pitched the ninth for his 18th save in 25 opportunities.Junis (6-12) allowed four runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out five.The loss clinched a sixth straight series loss for the Royals, who have lost 16 of 20 games overall.BETTER LATE THAN NEVERKevin Kiermaier, who had two hits and a walk, is hitting .357 in his last eight games, noteworthy mostly because he was batting .175 before that. ''I've been pressing this whole year, trying to make up for all my lost time and all my (lack of) performance in one swing,'' the Rays center fielder said. ''I've been trying to kill the ball all year and hit the ball 700 feet, and that's how I get myself out. You learn from things like this - being hurt and not playing the way you want to. It's a learning experience and now I'm instituting those experiences into my approach.'' GETTING A BREAKRays rookie 1B Jake Bauers, mired in a 1-for-33 slide, was out of the lineup. ''He's been pressing, there's no denying it,'' manager Kevin Cash said. ''He's frustrated with himself.'' Bauers entered Wednesday hitting .209 with nine homers and 34 RBIs in 66 games.TRAINER'S ROOMRoyals: OF Jorge Bonifacio, scratched from Tuesday's lineup with lower back stiffness, was on the bench again Wednesday, but available, manager Ned Yost said.Rays: OF Tommy Pham said he hopes to be back Friday after dislocating his right ring finger on a head-first dive back to first base on Tuesday. ''It feels fine other than the swelling,'' Pham said.UP NEXTRight-hander Tyler Glasnow (1-3, 4.10 ERA) will make his fifth start for the Rays in the season series finale Thursday night. Glasnow took his first loss Saturday at Boston, going 6 2/3 innings after a second inning in which he gave up three walks and four runs. Left-hander Danny Duffy (7-11, 4.90) is the likely if unannounced starter for Kansas City. He hasn't started since Aug. 11 because of a left shoulder impingement.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
StubHubStubHubRays hope to start new shutout streak vs. Royals 9h ago• 2 min read Tampa Bay's shutout streak ended at 27 innings Tuesday night, tying the club record.But the Rays' pitching staff continued its roll behind ace Blake Snell to win their second game over the Kansas City Royals at Tropicana Field.Now, Tampa Bay sends Ryne Stanek to the mound against Kansas City's Jakob Kunis in the third game of the series Wednesday night.Snell, winning his 15th game of the season to further become part of the Cy Young talk, gave up a run in the fifth inning, but struck out 11 through six as he lowered his ERA to 2.07.The Rays won their third straight to go to four games over .500, matching their high-water mark for the season."It's amazing," Willie Adames, who had three hits, including a home run, Tuesday, said of Snell (15-5). "You've been watching Snell the whole year -- he's been dealing this year. He's been having a great year -- he has great talent." And the Rays have allowed one run during the mini winning streak.Told the 27 innings tied the club mark set in 2013, manager Kevin Cash said, "It's awesome. And we're doing it with a bunch of young pitchers. I have no idea when (it was done last) but the guys that we're asking to do it it's been a huge team effort, pen effort, starter effort, opener effort. It's pretty rewarding to hear that." Reminded the Rays went to the playoffs in 2013, Cash said, "We better get going." The Royals have scored one run in 25 innings since a six-run second inning at Chicago on Sunday."We struck out 16 times tonight," said K. C. manager Ned Yost. "It's not acceptable. Just way, way too many punchouts." Asked about Snell, he said, "He's tough. He's an All-Star -- not an All-Star by accident." Kunis is 6-11 with a 4.76 ERA. He has thrown three straight no-decisions -- all Royals losses -- but has allowed four earned runs in 16 1/3 innings in the three starts.He is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA in two games (one start) against the Rays. Last year, he struck out 10 in 6 2/3 innings in defeating Tampa Bay.The current Rays are just 1-for-6 lifetime against Kunis.The Rays lost Tommy Pham to a dislocated right ring finger in Tuesday's game. They announced x-rays were negative and said he is day-to-day.For K. C., Jorge Bonifacio was a late scratch with lower back stiffness. Rookie Ryan O'Hearn, a left-handed hitter, went into the lineup against tough lefty Snell and hit his first home run off a left-hander. That ended the Royals' scoreless streak at 20 straight innings.Yost didn't have much of an update on Bonifacio.Before the game, Yost said signs are pointing toward Danny Duffy coming off the 10-day disabled list to start the series finale Thursday night. Duffy threw a bullpen session Monday and reported no after-affects Tuesday."I'm not going to put it in cement yet," Yost said. "We've still got a couple of days to go, but it looks that way." Said Duffy, out with left shoulder impingement that required an anti-inflammatory injection: "It went well. (My shoulder) loosened up as it went. This time of year, everyone has something going on (injury-wise), so I'll give it a shot."I feel like I'm at the point where I'm good. I feel like if whatever percentage I have left in the tank is good enough to dominate; I'll give it a go."
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