Nothing separated these teams for long. Kansas City scored once in the second inning and once in the fifth, and that was enough. Michael Wacha made it hold up over seven innings, and the Royals left St. Petersburg with a 2-1 win before 11,298 fans.
Wacha was the story. He worked 7.0 innings, allowing 6 hits, 1 run, and 1 walk while striking out 5 on 99 pitches. The right-hander now stands at 5-5 with a 3.48 ERA. Alex Lange finished it off with a clean ninth inning — 1.0 inning, no hits, one strikeout — for his sixth save of the season.
The Royals broke through in the second when Massey scored on Lane Thomas's double to left, giving Kansas City a 1-0 lead it would not relinquish. In the fifth, Nick Loftin scored on a Carter Jensen single to center, pushing the advantage to 2-0. Tampa Bay answered in the bottom half when Richie Palacios scored on a Díaz double to left, cutting the deficit to 2-1, but the Rays could not find another run against Wacha or the Kansas City bullpen.
Drew Rasmussen absorbed the loss, falling to 6-4. He went 6.0 innings, giving up 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts on 90 pitches. With a 2.62 ERA, Rasmussen pitched well enough most nights to win. This was not one of those nights.
Wacha is 7 strikeouts away from reaching 1,500 for his career. Kansas City dropped to 32-46 with the loss. Tampa Bay, despite the defeat, sits at 43-31 in the AL East.