The game was decided before Kansas City could settle in. Tampa Bay turned two Kansas City errors in the third inning into a two-run lead, then kept adding before the Royals could respond, walking away with a 5-3 victory Wednesday night at Tropicana Field.
Griffin Jax was the story on the mound. He worked 5.0 innings, allowing 5 hits, 2 runs — neither earned — while striking out 7 and walking 2 on 88 pitches. His ERA stands at 3.17, and he picked up his third win against five losses. Bryan Baker closed it out with a 1.0-inning save, his 20th of the season, striking out 2 while allowing one run.
The rally that opened the scoring came on a throwing error by Kansas City first baseman Jac Caglianone. On a groundout by Ryan Vilade, Yandy Diaz and Nick Fortes both scored, with Junior Caminero reaching third safely on the error. Jonathan Aranda then singled to left to bring Caminero home, making it 3-0 after three. Tampa Bay extended the lead in the fourth: Diaz singled to left to score Taylor Walls, and Jonny DeLuca doubled to left to score Fortes, pushing the margin to 5-0. Yandy Diaz finished 4-for-5 with an RBI, while Aranda went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Noah Cameron absorbed the damage for Kansas City, allowing 5 runs on 8 hits over 5.0 innings, walking 3 and striking out 5 on 108 pitches. He falls to 4-5 with a 4.50 ERA. KC scored twice in the fifth when Carter Jensen and Caglianone crossed the plate on a fielding error by left fielder Chandler Simpson, and J. Rojas hit a solo home run to right in the ninth — 391 feet — to make it a 5-3 final, but the deficit was never seriously threatened.
Tampa Bay improved to 43-33, sitting second in the division, though the loss snapped a two-game skid — this win ends what had been a two-game losing streak. Kansas City, now 34-46 and fifth in the division, had entered on a two-game winning streak.