Race opens the game after the break with a doubleheader in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Missouri. Luke Reilly gave the go-ahead to a single in the eighth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Saturday night to complete a double-header sweep.
José Siri hit a pair of solo homers as the Rays won Game 1 6-1, opening their roster after a mid-season break. AL East leader Tampa Bay won three in a row after a season-high 7-game losing streak and, at 60–35, became the first AL team to record 60 wins.
Kansas City lost eight of nine, dropping to 26-67 and falling 41 games under .500 for the first time since 2019, going 59-103. against the New York Yankees after going 2-0-7 in their previous nine twin bills.
RBI Earthman Dairona Blanco in fifth place gave the Royals a 2-1 lead in a nightcap. Josh Lowe equalized with a treble in the seventh and Rayleigh scored in the eighth against Carlos Hernandez (0–5).
Harold Ramirez added a sacrificial fly in the ninth match against Dylan Coleman.
Colin Posh (7-2) threw 1-2-3 in seventh. Pete Fairbanks, playing in front of about 50 family and friends, beat a Salvador Perez single in the ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances.
Perez had 4 hits in the first match, one less than in his career. His fifth-inning double made him Kansas City’s sixth off-base hitter with 500 hits.
Cole Ragans, a 25-year-old left-hander, made his debut for the Royals in a night game and allowed 1 run and 4 hits in five innings.
The day after the first streak ended, Tyler Glasnow (3-3) gave up 1 run and 6 hits in 6 innings and struck out 6 in an afternoon game. Glasnow has been 0-3 in four starts since the June 14 victory in Oakland.
“I felt good the whole game,” Glasnow said. “I felt out of sorts, but as the pitch went on, I got into a rhythm. There was a battle today and it ended up being a good game.”
Siri finished third behind Alec Marsh (0-3) and ninth behind Nick Wittgren in his seventh career multiplayer game. Siri has 18 home runs this season.
“I know I’ve crossed out a lot, but everyone knows that. It was nice to connect with these two,” Siri said.
Francisco Mejia gave the Rays a 2–0 lead in the fifth when he hit a homebread off Marsh, who allowed 2 runs and 5 hits in six innings with 11 strikeouts and 1 walk. Strikeouts have been high for the Royals’ pitcher in his first three major league starts.
“It was hard for me to get strikeouts in the last two games,” Marsh said. “I thought the attack mode was good throughout the game. I think in terms of mindset, I knew I needed to keep attacking and I knew I needed to pitch with two hits.”
Collin Snyder of Kansas City opened up eighth with 13 consecutive balls. Rayleigh followed with a two-way single and Josh Lowe made a sacrificial fly. Bobby Witt Jr hit a 424-foot homer in the fifth.
RHP and Hagerty High alum Zack Eflin (10-4, 3.25) is set to start Sunday’s final series for the Rays against RHP and Eustis High alumnus Brady Singer (5-8, 5.80) for the Royals.
