The Kansas City Royals, down by 5 runs to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at one point, put together a comeback bid in the late innings Friday night at Kauffman Stadium, but couldn’t rebound completely, losing 6-5 to the Rays. The win snaps the Rays’ 11 game losing streak.
Alex Gordon went 3 for 4 with a run batted in. Joey Gathright had 2 hits and an RBI in 4 trips to the plate. John Buck belted his 15 th homer of the season.
Tampa Bay starter James Shields (7-4) picked up the win, going 7 2/3 innings, giving up 4 earned runs on 7 hits. Gary Glover gave up 1 earned run on 2 hits in the 9 th to earn his 1 st save. Royals’ starter Odalis Perez (4-8) surrendered 5 earned runs on 10 hits in 6 innings pitched to take the loss.
The Royals (36-50) and the Devil Rays (34-51) play again Saturday evening at the K. Gil Meche (5-6) takes to the hill for the Royals against Tampa Bay’s Andy Sonnanstine (1-3).