The Royals tied the Devil Rays twice and even took a one-run lead, but in the end the result was the same as it had been in their previous six decisions. Kansas City lost to Tampa Bay 9-5, extending their losing streak to seven games.
Angel Berroa’s RBI single in the sixth inning gave the Royals a 4-3 lead, but it was short lived. Tomas Perez broke tied the game with an RBI single to score Damon Hollins in the bottom half of the inning. Later, Carl Crawford tripled in Perez and Joey Gathright, who had just walked. The Devil Rays never trailed again.
Twice, the Royals were able to respond to early deficits. Shane Costa hit a two-run homer, his third of the season, in the top of the second inning to knot the game up at 2-2.
Hollins hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second and it stayed 3-2 until Paul Bako’s RBI single in the fourth inning retied the game for the Royals at 3-3.
Mark Redman lasted five innings for the Royals in his first start of the season. He allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks. Steve Stemle got the loss in relief.
The Royals pitching staff has been incredibly inaccurate on the current road trip, walking 40 batters in six games.
Starting pitcher Denny Bautista was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sore right pectoral muscle.