 won his second consecutive start, both against the Rays, after winning at Tampa Bay on April 24. He allowed two runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out two.Mondesi is batting .338 (24-for-71) with 12 extra-base hits at Kauffman Stadium, the most by any AL player in his home park. He is second in the AL in RBIs with 26.The Royals jumped on Rays opener Ryne Stanek (0-1). Whit Merrifield led off with a double and stole third before Mondesi drilled his fourth homer this season to right field. Alex Gordon walked and later scored as the first four batters reached safely.Tampa Bay began the day having allowed just four first-inning runs while scoring 29, both best in the majors. Stanek had made seven scoreless appearances as the opener this year, holding opponents to a .114 batting average (4-for-35). His lone inning Wednesday increased his ERA from 1.20 to 2.81.Jalen Beeks took over in the second and limited the Royals to one hit over 6 2/3 innings, fanning six.Ian Kennedy worked two scoreless innings for his second save in three chances.The Royals benefited from an unusual baserunning gaffe in the fourth, when Avisail Garcia was called out on appeal for failing to retouch second base. After Gordon caught Kevin Kiermaier's long drive to left, Garcia appeared to touch second and make a slight turn toward third before running directly back to first.Kansas City became the last AL team to reach double digits in wins.ROSTER MOVESThe Rays added RHP Austin Pruitt from Triple-A Durham as their 26th man for Game 2 of the doubleheader, while the Royals recalled RHP Glenn Sparkman from Omaha to start the second game.UP NEXTBlake Snell (2-2, 2.54 ERA), last year's AL Cy Young winner, starts in the second game against Sparkman (0-1, 8.10), who is making his first start of the season.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Doubleheader gives Rays two chances to dominate Royals The Kansas City Royals got a reprieve from the onslaught of the Tampa Bay Rays with a rainout of the scheduled Tuesday game, but the everyday nature of baseball means it's only temporary.The Rays defeated the Royals 11 times in the teams' past 12 meetings. The clubs are scheduled for a doubleheader Wednesday, with the first game to start at 12:15 p.m. CDT, though the weather forecast is nearly as ominous as Tuesday's. The first game should be safe, but thunderstorms are expected to return in mid-afternoon.The Rays and Royals have a history of weather issues in Kansas City.Thursday will be the annual "School Day at the K," a local television station's weather exhibition for kids at Kauffman Stadium. On May 2, 2013, the two teams were scheduled for a matinee, but the game was snowed out. It doesn't appear that snow will be an issue this time.The scheduled pitchers for Tuesday's game were defending American League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell (2-2, 2.54 ERA) for the Rays and Jakob Junis (2-2, 5.57) for the Royals. However, Snell will be pushed back to start the second game on Wednesday.Junis will oppose Rays "opener" Ryne Stanek (0-0, 1.20 ERA) in the opener of the doubleheader. Snell will face right-hander Glenn Sparkman, who will be called up from Triple-A Omaha to serve as the Royals' 26th man for the day.Sparkman was 0-1 with an 8.10 ERA for the Royals earlier this season in three appearances, all in relief. He hadn't allowed an earned run in 6 1/3 innings over two games (one start) for Omaha.Junis is 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA in four career games (three starts) vs. Tampa Bay. Sparkman lost the only time he has faced the Rays, giving up three runs in four innings on Aug. 21, 2018.Stanek has no decision in four career appearances, three starts, against the Royals, having tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings. Snell is 1-2 with a 4.40 ERA in three career starts vs. Kansas City.Lefty Danny Duffy, who was originally scheduled to start Wednesday, instead will start Thursday in the series finale against the Rays.Snell took the loss in the one game the Rays have lost to the Royals in the past dozen contests, a 10-2 trouncing in St. Petersburg, Fla., on April 24. That day, Junis was the beneficiary of the highest run output of the season by the Royals.The Rays aren't just beating the Royals. They own the best record in baseball at 19-9, including a 10-2 record on the road, also the best in baseball. They showed their mettle Monday, holding the Royals to five hits in an 8-5 win.Still, Royals manager Ned Yost says he hasn't lost confidence in his team."No, I don't like the attitude of the team," he said when asked that exact question. "I love the attitude of our team. Our team grinds. Our team plays with energy. Our team fights. I love the way these guys show up every day ready to work. They're all working their tails off." The Rays don't have a lot of star power, but they welcomed one of their top hitting prospects Monday, first baseman Nate Lowe. He went 1-for-4 with a double and a walk in his major league debut, serving as the designated hitter.His hitting prowess was well-detailed from spring training and his start at Triple-A Durham, where he batted .300 with three homers and 14 RBIs in 21 games."(There's) a lot to like," Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. "What he did last year was really, really impressive at two different levels. He showed enough in spring training. He can hit the ball a really long way. ... He's able to get his hits and drive in runs. We're excited to see him."The power's pretty impressive. The confidence is pretty impressive. There were some at-bats in spring training that, you know, he got beat up a little bit. He didn't really waver too much. He took it with a grain of salt. That's a sign of a young player that is confident in his ability and able to make adjustments on the fly, and I'm sure he'll be challenged to do that now while he's up here." --Field Level Media
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