Freddy Fermin went 3-for-4 with an RBI, Michael Lorenzen crafted six strong innings, and the Kansas City Royals opened a six-game road trip with a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday.
Fermin was hit in the hand in the seventh inning while attempting to bunt but stayed in the game and produced an insurance run with a two-out RBI single in the ninth.
Lorenzen (3-3) allowed just one run on four hits. He fanned four and walked two in his second consecutive quality start as the Royals won for the seventh time in eight games.
Kansas City’s Salvador Perez doubled home a run, and Kyle Isbel hit a sacrifice fly. Bobby Witt Jr. singled in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to 20 games, the longest active stretch in the majors. The shortstop also stole his team-leading ninth base.
Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero homered and doubled in a 3-for-4 showing. Yandy Diaz went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk as the Rays had their five-game winning streak end.
Rays starter Taj Bradley (2-2) settled down after allowing single markers in the first and second innings. In seven innings, he yielded two runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
The Royals jumped on top in the first inning when Perez slashed a two-out double to right-center to bring home Jonathan India, who had singled. Isbel then produced a sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead a frame later.
After nearly walking on a 3-0 pitch from Lorenzen in the fourth, Caminero launched his sixth homer off a 3-1 sinker, the blast to center cutting the lead in half.
Kansas City reliever Lucas Erceg got into trouble in the eighth after allowing one-out singles to Brandon Lowe and Caminero, but the right-hander fanned Jonathan Aranda and retired Christopher Morel on a groundout to shut down the threat.
In the ninth, Royals closer Carlos Estevez whiffed Travis Jankowski before allowing Jose Caballero’s single. Estevez got a long flyout from Danny Jansen, then got Chandler Simpson on a groundout to move to 8-for-10 in saves.
Simpson went 0-for-5, ending his eight-game, career-opening hitting streak.
–Field Level Media
