The game was decided before Kansas City could find its footing. Junior Caminero hit three home runs and finished with six RBI, and Ian Seymour held the Royals hitless into the seventh as Tampa Bay dismantled Kansas City 13-2 at Tropicana Field.
Caminero went 3-for-5 on the night, accounting for the game's first run and its last burst of power. He entered the day hitting .285 with 19 home runs and 43 RBI on the season, and he added to all three lines. Victor Mesa Jr. contributed a three-run home run in the fourth, and Jonathan Aranda went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI to round out a 15-hit Tampa Bay attack.
Caminero opened the scoring in the first inning, homering to left — 372 feet — with Aranda scoring ahead of him to put Tampa Bay up 2-0. The lead grew in the fourth when Mesa Jr. homered to right, a 355-foot shot that brought in Mullins and Walls for a 5-0 advantage. Caminero struck again in the fifth, a solo shot to left at 387 feet, and Chandler Simpson's double to center scored Richie Palacios to push the lead to 7-0. Aranda's double to right scored Díaz in the seventh, and the eighth inning finished the job: Mullins scored on a groundout by Hunter Feduccia, Nick Fortes singled to left to score Walls, and Caminero capped the night with a three-run homer to left center — 393 feet — scoring Fortes and Aranda to make it 13-0. Carter Jensen's two-run homer to right center in the ninth provided Kansas City's only runs.
Seth Lugo absorbed the loss, falling to 3-5 after allowing 7 runs on 7 hits over 5 innings, with 3 strikeouts and 2 walks. His ERA stands at 4.18. Seymour, meanwhile, was nearly untouchable: 6.2 innings, no hits, no runs, 7 strikeouts, and 1 walk on 90 pitches. The win moved him to 4-1 with a 4.32 ERA.
Tampa Bay improved to 44-33, sitting second in its division. Kansas City dropped to 34-47, fifth in its division.