 labored through five innings to pick up the victory, throwing 102 pitches. He gave up four runs and nine hits, while walking one and striking out seven. Rays starter Drew Smyly (2-7) was pulled after four innings, yielding eight runs and 12 hits. In his past three starts, all losses, he has allowed 25 hits and 16 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings. Every Royal had at least one hit. Paulo Orlando singled in the eighth, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games. Drew Butera had three hits, matching his career high. Corey Dickerson hit a three-run homer for the Rays in the second and drove in another run in the ninth. The Rays loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth off rookie left-hander Scott Alexander. Evan Longoria led off the inning with a double and Alexander walked the next two. After Dickerson's one-out RBI single, Wade Davis was summoned and picked up his 15th save in 16 opportunities. THE DEFENSE RESTSThe Rays, who made three errors Monday, have committed 11 in their past seven games with four multi-error games. ''That's terrible,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. ''We're better than that and we need to get better at it.'' TRAINER'S ROOMRays: RHP Brad Boxberger, who just came off the DL after adductor muscle surgery in March, left after 16 pitches in the sixth with a muscle strain in his left side. . 2B Steve Pearce, who left in the eighth inning Monday with a tender right elbow, was back in the lineup Tuesday, but was pinch hit for in the fifth inning. . RHPs Alex Cobb and Chase Whitley, who both underwent Tommy John surgery in May 2015, each threw a 35-pitch bullpen session Tuesday at Tropicana Field. . INF Logan Forsythe, who is on the DL with a left scapula hairline fracture, hit off the tee and fielded ground balls at Tropicana. Royals: LF Brett Eibner was carted from the field in the fifth inning with a left ankle sprain. He will be evaluated further Wednesday. . 3B Mike Moustakas, who has a torn right ACL, will see Dr. James Andrews on Wednesday for a second opinion. . LHP Mike Minor, who missed last season after surgery for a torn labrum, was pulled out of his rehab assignment with shoulder fatigue. He came Tuesday to Kansas City to be examined by the Royals medical staff. UP NEXTRays: RHP Chris Archer is 0-2 with a 6.27 ERA in three career starts against the Royals. Royals: LHP Danny Duffy has a 4.86 ERA this season at Kauffman Stadium and a 1.29 ERA on the road.
)
Time: 08:15 P.M. EST Venue: Kauffman Stadium
The Tampa Bay Rays' dismal stretch already features two Drew Smyly losses, and the Kansas City Royals' only defeat of the last week belongs to Dillon Gee. Smyly hopes to avoid the longest losing streak of his career by helping the visiting Rays even this series on Tuesday night against Gee and the Royals, who are seeking their longest winning streak since closing 2015 with five straight victories. Kansas City (28-22) has taken over first place in the AL Central with its four-game run, capped by Monday's 6-2 win over Tampa Bay (22-27) - the Rays' eighth loss in 10 games. Eric Hosmer hit a three-run home run after Lorenzo Cain drove in the go-ahead run during a four-run eighth inning to help the Royals to their eighth win in the last nine games of this series. They are 21-6 against the Rays since June 25, 2012. Smyly (2-6, 3.92 ERA) hopes he can end that success by building a bit of momentum for himself. The left-hander had pitched well his previous two starts - allowing four runs in 11 1/3 innings - before getting pounded in Thursday's 9-1 loss to Miami. He gave up five runs and six hits - two home runs - in six innings to suffer his third loss in his last four outings.'' It was just frustrating because I felt like I had pretty good command,'' said Smyly. ''Just a couple of bad pitches, a couple curveballs just stayed up. It was just a frustrating outing for me because I thought I could perform better than I did.'' The five-year veteran held a 2.61 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in three starts against Kansas City in 2014, though those were all with Detroit. Smyly is 3-1 with a 2.20 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in five career starts against the Royals, the other two coming in 2012. Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez and Omar Infante have each homered off Smyly, though they have just a .206 batting average in a combined 34 at-bats. Kansas City's only loss in its last seven games came from Gee (1-2, 3.86). The right-hander jumped into Kansas City's rotation earlier this month and looked good in his first two starts, but his Wednesday outing was a disaster. He was shelled for 10 hits and six runs in four innings of a 7-5 loss at Minnesota, giving up four extra-base hits including three homers.'' It just seemed like when I made a mistake (Wednesday) they really did some damage,'' Gee said. Gee spent the first six years of his career with the New York Mets and has never faced Tampa Bay.
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
Tampa Bay Rays
Kansas City Royals
Pick Center
MLB
FINAL (5/31/2016)
LiveSportsTradingDude
