Jason Vargas delivers a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays (photo/MLB)

Jason Vargas delivers a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays (photo/MLB)

Jason Vargas took a shutout into the ninth inning, and Alcides Escobar hit a three-run double for the Royals, who beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 on Monday night to get back to .500. Vargas went for the complete game shutout before giving up a leadoff homer to Ben Zobrist in the ninth.

Vargas (1-0) allowed four hits, walked one and struck out two in eight-plus innings, lowering his ERA to 1.20 in two starts. Greg Holland had to work out of a jam, but got the save after giving up a run.

Eric Hosmer singled in Nori Aoki in the first off Rays starter Matt Moore, who left in the fifth inning with elbow soreness. The scored remained 1-0, until the sixth when Alcides Escobar cleared the bases with a double.

Scary moment in the seventh inning when Royals second baseman Omar Infante was hit in the jaw by a pitch from reliever Heath Bell. Infante, who was bleeding, walked off the field under his own power.

“He was smoked. We’re worried about a concussion, too. It shakes you for sure because it’s a very ugly sound for somebody to be hit in the face,” Yost said. “It was a cool night, but I noticed I broke out in a sweat real quick, so it definitely affected me. Of course, you have a lot of worry about it.”