Tampa Bay’s Casey Kotchman led off the ninth inning by hitting the first pitch he saw from Blake Wood for a home run to lift the Rays to a 2-1 win over the Royals on Monday night. Kotchman also had the Rays’ other RBI that tied the game in the seventh.
Luke Hochevar allowed one run and five hits over seven innings while striking out seven and walking two for the Royals. Hochevar had won his last three starts.
Rays rookie Jeremy Hellickson, 3-0 in four starts during July, gave up one run and six hits in 7 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked three. Former Royals pitcher Kyle Farnsworth pitched the ninth inning to get the win for Tampa Bay.