Rays Fall Apart Late Again, Lose Series to Last-Place Royals

For the second straight day, Tampa Bay erased an early deficit, only to have the bullpen get knocked around late again. This time it was Brooks Raley who gave up the go-ahead run in Kansas City's 4-2 win over the Rays on Sunday. It was the second time in two weeks that the Rays lost a series to a last-place team.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Tampa Bay Rays lost a tie, a game and a series on Sunday, falling 4-2 to the Kansas City Royals and losing a series to a last-place team for the second time in two weeks.

The Rays have won four of six series so far in July, but both losses have been hard to swallow. They were swept by the Cincinnati Reds, who are in last place in the National League Central, on July 8-10, and now have lost two of three games to the Royals, who started the series 20 games below .500 and in last place in the American League Central.

For the second straight day, the Rays fell behind early, only to come back and tie the game but then give it away in the late innings. Ryan Yarbrough was the culprit on Saturday night, giving up two homers, and this time it was lefty Brooks Raley who got touched up. 

"Look, we're a good team and I expect to win every series, simple as that,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "The Royals played well, but we're a good team and we should find ways to win this series.''

Raley gave up three singles in the seventh inning, and Hunter Dozier's shot to center field scored Whit Merrifield, giving the Royals a 3-2 lead. They added an insurance run off of Shawn Armstrong in the eighth when Michael Taylor got on with an infield single and scored on a double by MJ Melendez.

It was Raley's first loss of the season.

The Rays were trailing 2-0 before they got their first run in the third inning, courtesy of a Yandy Diaz home run to straightway center field with two outs. The ball traveled 434 feet — ''he really smoked that ball,'' Cash said — and it was just his fourth homer of the season and first since May 14 against Toronto. 

He had 193 at-bats in between homers.

Jeffrey Springs made his first start in 19 days on Sunday, and was touched for two runs and eight hits. (USA TODAY Sports)

Jeffrey Springs got the start for the Rays, his first since July 5. The left-hander lasted 4 1/3 innings and allowed just two runs despite giving up eight hits. He wound his way through traffic in every inning.

The Royals got a run in the first when second baseman Whit Merrifield led off with a double and scored on a one-out single by shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. They scored again in the second when Michael Taylor struck out but reached first on a passed ball by Rays catcher Christian Bethancourt. He went to third on a single by third  baseman Emmanuel Rivera and then scored on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Nick Pratto to make it 2-0.

Springs gave up a leadoff single and one-out double in the third but got out of it, and gave up two singles to lead off the fourth, only to get a double play when catcher Cam Gallagher popped up on a bunt attempt. 

He got one out in the fifth, but then was chased when Nicky Lopez tripled to right. Ryan Thompson came in to get the final two outs, though, keeping the Royals ' lead at 2-1. He survived a lot of traffic on the basepaths, which is good considering his long layoff.

"I thought he was really good. With his time down, it was  probably to be expected a little bit,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "But he'll be that much sharper going forward, and he came out of it with the calf feeling good.''

Tampa Bay tied it up in the sixth. Diaz doubled to right and went to third on a Randy Arozarena infield single. Luke Raley drove a ball deep to left field that was caught, but Diaz scored easily to tie the game at 2-2.

The loss dropped the Rays to 52-43 on the season. They are now a half-game behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League wild-card race after the Jays swept the Boston Red Sox this weekend. They remain four games clear of the Cleveland Guardians for a spot in the new six-team playoffs.

The Rays play the Guardians three times next weekend in St. Petersburg. Before they get home, they'll play four games in Baltimore against an Orioles team that is still entertaining playoff aspirations themselves.

"It was kind of a frustrating game, and they found a way to capitalize on our opportunities that we didn't make plays on,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "We just weren't as crisp as we would like to be or normally are.''

The Rays' pitching wasn't particularly sharp all weekend. They gave up 39 hits to the Royals in three games, and it was the Royals' third straight series win at home after winning just one of the first 12 home series. It was their first series win over the Rays since May of 2017, snapping a seven-series losing streak.

Kris Bubic pitched seven innings for the Royals and got the win. He's now 2-6 on the year.

The Rays had several sloppy plays on Sunday but were not charged with any errors. It was their 10th-straight errorless game, tying a team record that's been done three times before.

The Rays chose to give veteran starter Corey Kluber and All-Star Shane McClanahan some extra time out of the break. They will pitch on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, with Drew Rasmussen going on Wednesday. Thursday is TBA, since fifth starter Luis Patino was sent down to Durham on Sunday to make room on the roster for Springs.

Watch Kevin Cash's postgame news conference

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