Jeff Francoeur and Yuniesky Betancourt homered and Alex Gordon and Billy Butler also drove in runs as the Royals hammered the Tampa Bay Rays for the second night in a row, an 8-2 final. After being outscored 30-14 by the Cardinals, the Royals have returned the favor to Tampa Bay, outscoring them 16-2 and looking for the sweep on Wednesday.
Bruce Chen has won seven of his last nine decisions, going seven innings. The Rays got a run across in the first on consecutive hits and a fly ball by Hideki Matsui, and Brooks Conrad made it 2-0 when he went deep in the second inning, but their bats fell silent after that.
LHP Everett Teaford will be recalled from Triple-A Omaha to start for Kansas City in the series finale today.
