Sunday, 4 a.m.
For Ryan Yarbrough, the challenge is always the same.
He has to keep the ball inside the park.
Yarbrough was giving up souvenirs again Saturday night, throwing two gopher balls in the eighth inning of a 6-3 loss to Kansas City. This season, Yarbrough has given up seven homers in 10 games. Last year, he gave up 25 homers in 30 games.
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This time, Michael A. Taylor snapped a 3-3 tie with a homer to left, and Bobby Witt Jr. followed to slam the door for the Royals.
Yarbrough had come into the game with the Rays down 3-0 and allowed them to get back in it, throwing three shutout innings before his blow-up inning. Luis Patino started and also went four innings, giving up three runs on four doubles in the third.
“I thought (Yarbrough) did look sharp," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "Taylor looked like he got a backdoor breaking ball and put a good swing on it. Yarbs did give us a chance right there.
"(Pitino had) an uptick in the velocity, which was encouraging. When we took him out of the game, he was good to go another inning. It still comes down to pitch execution."
For the Rays, the highlight of the night was newcomer Roman Quinn, just picked up on waivers. Quinn had two hits and drove in two runs for the Rays.
His first hit was a drag bunt in the sixth to break up a no-hit bid by Kansas City's Brady Singer. His second was. a two-run triple to tie the game in the seventh.
If you're thinking that bunting while the other team has a no-hitter going violates an unwritten rule of baseball, Cash shrugged it off.
"I wouldn't have problem whatsoever if someone did it against us," he said.
"We tied the game," Quinn said.
The Rays play the Royals again today at 2:10 p.m. at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The Royals haven't announced their starting pitcher, but the Rays will go with Jeffrey Springs.