Kansas City Royals vs Tampa Bay Rays Match Player Stats On May 10, 2017

The Sports Xchange
May 10, 2017

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Chris Archer threw eight shutout innings in his best outing of the season, and the Tampa Bay Rays bounced back in a big way from a three-game losing streak, cruising to a 12-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.

Archer (3-1) struck out 11 batters for the second straight start and got his first career win against the Royals. He came in with an 0-4 mark in five starts vs. Kansas City.

The Rays (17-19) reset their season high for runs and came up with 16 hits, including 13 against Royals starter Jason Hammel, who pitched seven innings to help an overworked bullpen.

Kansas City (12-21) narrowly avoided a shutout.

The Rays led 7-0 after seven innings and added five runs in the eighth, getting a grand slam from Colby Rasmus against reliever Peter Moylan. It was the sixth career grand slam for Rasmus and the second for the Rays this season, following one by Logan Morrison on April 14 at Boston.

Rasmus went 3-for-5, and he is 6-for-12 in the four-game series that ends Thursday afternoon.

Morrison had a home run and three RBIs for the Rays. He just missed a second home run when Alex Gordon made a leaping grab against the wall in the seventh inning.

A night after the Rays used every available reliever in a 12-inning loss to Kansas City, they needed only one, as Jumbo Diaz pitched the ninth. Diaz gave up three hits and lost the shutout with two outs on an RBI double by Jorge Soler, his first hit after an 0-for-15 start since joining the Royals.

All nine Rays starters had a hit for the second night in a row, and six had two hits in Wednesday's win.

Moylan pitched the eighth for Kansas City, giving up two hits and a walk to load the bases, then walking Rickie Weeks to bring in a run before giving up the grand slam to Rasmus, his second home run in five days.

For the second day in a row, the Rays jumped out to an early lead on the Royals, and this time, they had Archer to help hold it.

Archer held the Royals to three hits and no runs in the first five innings, striking out seven and needing only 62 pitches to help ease a bullpen that used seven relievers the night before.

The Rays got a run in the first against Hammel (1-4). Corey Dickerson was hit on a foot by a pitch, advanced on a single by Evan Longoria and scored on a sacrifice fly by Morrison for 1-0 lead.

Longoria then reached on a throwing error in the third and Morrison followed with his ninth home run of the season to give the Rays a three-run edge. One batter later, Weeks' second homer of the year upped the lead to 4-0, marking the third time this season the Rays have hit back-to-back home runs.

Tampa Bay added two runs in the fourth. Derek Norris singled and scored on an RBI triple by Dickerson, who then scored on a sacrifice fly by Brad Miller.

Three straight singles in the fifth made it 7-0, with Norris getting an RBI.

Hammel allowed seven runs (six earned) and one walk. He struck out six.

NOTES: Seeking bullpen help, the Royals selected the contracts of RHPs Al Alburquerque and Seth Maness from Triple-A Omaha. In turn, they optioned RHP Jake Junis, who picked up the win in Tuesday's 12-inning game, and to make room on the 40-man roster, Kansas City designated two players for assignment: INF Christian Colon and OF Peter O'Brien. ... Rays OF Steven Souza missed a second straight game after jamming a thumb in Monday's loss to the Royals. ... Before all nine Rays starters had a hit Tuesday night, the first time that has happened in a loss since a September 2008 game against the New York Yankees. ... The Rays drew a crowd of less than 10,000 for the second night in a row after not doing so once since October 2015.