Steven Souza Jr. and Logan Morrison hit solo homers in the fifth inning to lift the Rays to a 5-3 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Jason Vargas gave up all five runs in six innings of work to fall to 14-and-9. Whit Merrifield hit a three-run homer in the third to tie the game at three for Kansas City, which lost two-of-three in the series.
Vargas talks about his second half struggled
>>Royals End August Play On Sour Note
The Royals will be happy to turn the page on the calendar. They are off today, which means they finished August losing six-of-seven games and 18-of-28 overall. That followed up the month of July in which they went 16-and-10. The Royals started just 7-and-16 in April, but reached a high-water mark of seven games over July 28th at Boston.
Ned Yost talks offense. He says they’re not getting guys on base
>>Royals At Twins Tomorrow
The Royals open a three-game series against the Twins tomorrow night at Target Field. Jason Hammel will take the mound for KC and Kyle Gibson for Minnesota. The Royals are 65-and-67 on the season, four games behind the Twins for the second AL wild card. There are five other teams between the Royals and the Twins in the standings.