MLB

Tampa Bay Rays at Kansas City Royals

· Major League Baseball
Tampa Bay Rays
49-33, 18-21 Away
<span class="badge bg-danger" style="font-size: 1.2em; margin: 5px 0;">Final</span>
10 - 4
Kansas City Royals
35-51, 19-23 Home

Junior Caminero homers for the 5th straight game as the Rays beat the Royals 10-4 in series opener

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Kansas City Royals: Game Highlights

Caminero, the reigning AL player of the week, announced earlier in the day that he would participate in the All-Star Home Run Derby after finishing second to the Mariners' Cal Raleigh last year. Then, the 22-year-old third baseman crushed a pitch from Noah Cameron over the left-field wall for his 23rd homer of the season and the eighth in his last seven games.

Ryan Vilade added a homer of his own on the very next pitch, giving Tampa Bay hitters 13 of them in their last five games. Nick Fortes also drove in a pair of runs while Jonathan Aranda had an RBI single and reached base four times.

Rays starter Griffin Jax (4-5) allowed a leadoff homer to Carter Jensen and a two-run shot to Bobby Witt Jr., but still made it through six innings. The right-hander struck out five without a walk to beat the Royals for the second time in a week.

Witt added a solo homer in the eighth inning off Rays reliever Cole Sulser for his seventh career multi-homer game. Jensen's homer extended his hitting streak to 20 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the majors.

Cameron (4-6), who gave up five runs in five innings against Tampa Bay last week, allowed six on nine hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings this time. The left-hander has allowed 21 earned runs over his last four starts covering just 18 innings.

The AL East-leading Rays improved to a majors-best 19-7 against left-handed starters this season.

Up next Rays LHP Shane McLanahan (6-5, 3.30 ERA) will try to snap a three-game skid when he makes his fourth career start against Kansas City on Wednesday night. Royals RHP Seth Lugo (3-5, 4.18) will try to bounce back from a dismal start last week against Tampa Bay, when he allowed seven runs on seven hits and two walks in just five innings.

How can I watch Tampa Bay Rays vs. Kansas City Royals?
  • TV Channel: Rays at Royals 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Perez lined out to shortstop.
9th Inning Massey grounded out to second.
9th Inning Thomas grounded out to shortstop.
9th Inning Kimbrel relieved Sulser
9th Inning Fortes grounded out to pitcher.
9th Inning Walls flied out to left.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/tb.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTB https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/kc.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originKC
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
1 Hit By Pitch 0
15 Ground Balls 9
2 Strikeouts 7
9 Runs Batted In 4
1 Sacrifice Hit 0
11 Hits 6
0 Stolen Bases 0
11 Walks 1
0 Catcher Interference 0
10 Runs 4
2 Ground Into Double Play 1
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
32 At Bats 32
2 Home Runs 3
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
14 Runners Left On Base 8
0 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
0 Doubles 2
16 Fly Balls 16
2 Caught Stealing 0
181 Pitches 115
0 Games Started 0
0 Pinch At Bats 0
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 0
17 Total Bases 17
45 Plate Appearances 33
324.0 Projected Home Runs 486.0
2 Extra Base Hits 5
8.3 Runs Created 3.6
.344 Batting Average .188
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.531 Slugging Percentage .531
.469 Secondary Average .375
.523 On Base Percentage .212
1.054 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .743
0.9 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.6
8.6 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 3.6
55.0 Batter Rating 35.0
16.0 At Bats Per Home Run 10.7
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
4.02 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 3.48
.188 Isolated Power .344
5.50 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.14
.244 Walks Per Plate Appearance .030
.125 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average .188
19.0 Runs Produced 8.0
0.9 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.7 Patience Ratio 0.6
0.3 Balls In Play Average 0.1
103.0 MLB Rating 82.0
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Kauffman Stadium

Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Attendance: 15,014 | Capacity:

2026 American League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
<img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/tb.png" class="logo-micro">Tampa Bay 62 43 .590 - W3
<img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/nyy.png" class="logo-micro">New York 59 46 .562 3 L1
<img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/bos.png" class="logo-micro">Boston 54 50 .519 7.5 W1
<img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/bal.png" class="logo-micro">Baltimore 51 55 .481 11.5 L1
<img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/tor.png" class="logo-micro">Toronto 48 58 .453 14.5 L1

2026 American League Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
<img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/chw.png" class="logo-micro">Chicago 55 49 .529 - W1
<img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/cle.png" class="logo-micro">Cleveland 54 53 .505 2.5 L5
<img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/min.png" class="logo-micro">Minnesota 53 54 .495 3.5 W2
<img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/det.png" class="logo-micro">Detroit 50 56 .472 6 L2
<img src="https://a.espncdn.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/kc.png" class="logo-micro">Kansas City 45 62 .421 11.5 W2
Full Standings