, who have won five of six to build upon the best record in baseball. They also moved to 10-2 on the road.Yonny Chirinos went 5 2/3 innings in relief of effective opener Ryne Stanek, allowing two earned runs on two hits and a walk. Chirinos improved to 4-0 after going 0-3 last season.The Rays did most of their damage against Brad Keller (2-3), who struggled in his return from a five-game suspension for his role in a fracas with the Chicago White Sox. The big right-hander allowed five runs on six hits and three walks over five innings.The Rays jumped on Keller in the first when Choi drew a two-out walk, went to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a balk. When he scored on Diaz's base hit, Tampa Bay had outscored its opponents 29-4 in the first inning this season.The Rays added three more in the second after Kiermaier was hit by a pitch, beginning a parade of batters to the plate. Perez delivered an RBI double and Pham provided the big blow with a two-run triple, staking the Rays' pitching staff - with the best ERA in baseball - to a 4-0 lead.They nearly gave it right back in the third.The Royals took advantage of an error by Rays shortstop Daniel Robertson and a walk to Whit Merrifield when Adalberto Mondesi tripled to right. He scored on Alex Gordon's sacrifice fly.Jorge Soler homered in the seventh for Kansas City, but the Rays added a run in the eighth and Choi's two-run double off Wily Peralta in the ninth to put the game away.FRIENDS IN LOWE PLACESRays DH Nate Lowe doubled in the eighth for his first big league hit. The slugger roared through three minor league levels last season and was hitting .300 at Triple-A Durham.TRAINER'S ROOMRays: INF Matt Duffy took some at-bats in extended spring training as he rehabs from a sore back and ailing hamstring. He hopes to return in the next couple of weeks. ''He felt good,'' manager Kevin Cash said. ''Progress is being made.'' Royals: OF Billy Hamilton got another day off after leaving Saturday night's game against the Angels with a sore hamstring. ''That's one of his main strengths,'' manager Ned Yost said of Hamilton's speed. ''I'm going to wait until he's really good, then I'm going to give him one more day.'' UP NEXTAL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell (2-2, 2.54 ERA) makes his second start after returning from a toe injury on Tuesday night against the Royals. Snell was on a 65-pitch limit and got knocked around his last time out. Jakob Junis (2-2, 5.57) will be on the mound for Kansas City.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Royals, Rays meet again, this time in K. C. If familiarity breeds contempt, there are likely going to be some angry folks at the end of the upcoming series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Kansas City Royals.The two teams start a four-game series in Kansas City on Monday, after concluding a three-game series April 22-24 in Tampa, making for seven games against each other over an 11-day stretch.The Rays had won 10 straight against the Royals, dating back to the end of 2017, before K. C. won the last game in Tampa, 10-2.The Royals will welcome back Brad Keller (2-2, 3.41 ERA), who completed a five-game suspension Sunday, earned for hitting Chicago's Tim Anderson with a pitch on April 17. Keller initially appealed the suspension, but then decided to accept it."It's over with. I didn't want to wait around (any longer)," Keller said last week. "I figured I would just drop it and serve the suspension and move on." All the suspension did was push back his next start one day. Keller looked at the bright side of that equation."I'll get an extra day of rest and be ready to go," he said.In his last outing, also against the Rays, Keller had his worst start of the season. He took a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning but came unraveled. He ultimately allowed five runs on seven hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings.Royals manager Ned Yost was happy with Keller's performance in his last outing, at least until the seventh inning came."He was limiting his mistakes the first six innings, and his pitch count (85) was in great shape," Yost said. "I thought he could go seven or eight innings with the lead." Keller has two career appearances (one start) against Tampa Bay, allowing five runs on seven hits and four walks in 7 1/3 innings.The Rays once again will go with the "opener" strategy, asking Ryne Stanek (0-0, 1.32 ERA) to take the mound first. He pitched 1 1/3 innings in his last "start," also against the Royals, allowing just one hit before being removed. He has not allowed a run in his six starts, covering 9 1/3 innings. He has 13 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings overall.Stanek has faced the Royals three times (two starts) in his career, allowing three hits and no runs in 4 2/3 innings.One player the Royals won't have to worry about is Joey Wendle, who was hit by a pitch by the Royals Jake Diekman in the series finale. He has a broken right wrist and is expected to be out for six-to-eight weeks."It's going to be a while," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "That's a very soft six-to-eight weeks, other than just a doctor quickly looking at it. But we're still two days into it. It stinks." While the Royals have struggled, owning an American League-worst 9-19 record, the Rays continue to thrive. Their 18-9 mark is the best in baseball, after they took two straight in Boston against the Red Sox (the first game of the series was rained out).That included a victory over Chris Sale on Sunday, as the Rays scored four runs through two innings and won 5-2.The Royals have been on a bit of an offensive roller coaster over the last five games. They have scored two, 10, one, nine and three runs in those five. In Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Angels, they managed just one run through seven innings."We had a good day yesterday, but we've just gotta be more consistent from the get-go," Royals outfielder Alex Gordon said. "Friday and Sunday just weren't very good offensive days. At least we showed some life towards the end of the game." --Field Level Media
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