Friday, 4 a.m.
Perhaps you’ve heard this story before.
The Tampa Bay Rays were home again Thursday. They lost again. They didn’t hit again. They were dominated by Kansas City again. They left men in scoring position again,
Any questions?
The Rays endured an 8-2 clubbing by the Royals, a loss that completed a sweep by the Royals. Tampa Bay has now lost eight of their last nine games at home.
This time, Shane Baz absorbed his first loss of the season. Baz gave up seven earned runs in his 5 2/3 innings. The game was tied at 1-1 going into the fifth, but the Rays gave up three runs in fifth and three in the sixth.
It was a similar story for the Rays. They were one-for-six with runners in scoring position. They were just one-for-18 in the series.
Chandler Simpson and Jonathan Aranda each had two hits for the Rays.
The Rays have scored 40 runs in their last 14 games, but 24 of those have come in three games.
Tampa Bay now travels to New York to play three games against the Yankees. Ryan Pepiot will start for the Rays against Max Fried (5-0) at 7:05 p.m.