Three Things to Take Away From the Royals' 2-1 Loss to Tampa Bay
After the Kansas City Royals snapped the Tampa Bay Rays 11-game winning streak yesterday, the Rays were able to get their revenge as Tampa Bay took Game 2 of the series 2-1.
The loss dropped Kansas City to 23-24 on the year while the Rays win moved them to 31-20.
Here are three takeaways from the Royals' loss tonight.
Tyler Glasnow is really good.
This isn't really groundbreaking analysis but the Royals got a great view of how good Glasnow really is. The Rays ace was impressive as Kansas City saw Glasnow for the first time this year. The 6-foot-8 righty dominated as he tossed eight scoreless innings for the home squad. Glasnow only allowed three hits and two walks while racking up 11 strikeouts. Glasnow has struck out at least 10 hitters in six of his last 11 starts. He's just a hard guy to beat.
Mike Minor did what he needed to do.
While the Royals had a tough pitching matchup, Mike Minor was up to the challenge as he was tough on the Rays hitters. Minor only gave up two hits in five innings but one of his four walks led to Tampa Bay's only run. The 33-year-old was able to keep pace with the Rays ace. This game had the potential to be an ugly one but he held Tampa Bay to a run and allowed the Royals offense to get to the Rays bullpen.
The Royals don't quit.
Kansas City has faced some pretty solid starting pitching as of late. While it hasn't necessarily been beating the starting pitcher, the Royals have done some damage to some bullpens. Whether it was against Brandon Woodruff, Lucas Giolito or Tyler Glasnow it doesn't matter. No matter the team, no matter the pitcher, this team doesn't quit. The result wasn't really what the Royals wanted in the end tonight, but the team once again showed it's not over until it's over.
