Rays defeat Royals 14-7

After a rocky start to the season, the Tampa Bay Rays (10-8) appear to back on track after a 14-7 win over the Kansas City Royals (9-7) on Tuesday night. The Rays are on a five-game win streak after sweeping the New York Yankees last week and taking the first two games of their series with the Royals.

Rays Jump Ahead

Tampa Bay took a big 5-0 lead after the top of the second. The first inning featured a Brandon Lowe grounder to second that brought home Austin Meadows for the score.

The Rays had a big four-run inning in the top of the second. Meadows hit an RBI sacrifice fly bringing Kevin Kiermaier in for the run. Joey Wendle, the Rays RBI leader, followed up with a single to left-center for an RBI that put the Rays up 3-0.

Your club RBI leader: Joseph Patrick Wendle pic.twitter.com/FaBe3SNEV7

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 21, 2021

Kansas City’s Brad Keller got into a pitching jam in the top of the second bringing in Jake Newberry. With the bases loaded, Newberry walked Manuel Margot advancing catcher Mike Zunino to home plate. Yoshi Tsutsugo was also walked with the bases loading allowing Wendle to put the Rays up 5-0.

Kansas City Comeback?

The bottom of the third sparked life for Kansas City. After giving up four runs in the top of the second, the Royals matched it with four of their own.

A two-RBI single from Nicky Lopez gave Kansas City their first score of the game. Carlos Santana put the Royals up 4-0 with a two-RBI double deep to left field.

With a one-run lead in the top of the fourth, Lowe returned to the plate for the Rays. A homer over the center-field fence gave the Rays a 6-4 lead. Lowe finished the day with two hits and two RBIs for Tampa Bay.

In the top of the fifth, Willy Adames tripled to right field for an RBI that gave the Rays a solid 7-4 lead.

Santana responded for the Royals in the bottom of the fifth with a home run cutting the lead to two, 7-5.

Carlos Santana's third home run of the season pulls us back within a pair!#TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/h4iie0est9

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 21, 2021

Santana finished the day with two hits and three RBIs for Kansas City.

Tampa Bay On Top

Another four-run inning for Tampa Bay solidified the lead. A Margot two-RBI single to left put Tampa Bay up 9-5.

Tsutsugo added another two runs to the board with a single to shallow center. Both Margot and Tsutsugo recorded three RBIs each for the Rays.

The Royals managed to tack on a run in the bottom of the sixth with a Whit Merrifield RBI single to center. Hunter Dozier cut the Rays lead 11-7 with an RBI-single to center however it wouldn’t be enough to top the Rays.

Home runs from Zunino and Meadows sealed the deal for Tampa Bay in the top of the ninth, 14-7.

13-7

Go for 2 or 1? pic.twitter.com/xCETSNQmzU

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) April 21, 2021

Up Next

The Rays and Royals return to the field on Wednesday night for game three of their series. The first pitch is set for 8:10 p.m.