Jake Odorizzi had his third consecutive scoreless start, Steven Souza Jr. homered for the first time in two months and Tampa Bay beat the Royals 12-0 on Wednesday night.
Advertisement
Rays manager Kevin Cash brought in right-hander Kevin Jepsen two batters later, but it proved to be too late. I take a lot of pride in how I handle myself.
Tampa Bay Rays catcher Curt Casali, left, looks on as Kansas City Royals’ Alex Gordon hits a two-run homer off Tampa Bay starter Drew Smyly during the fourth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Fla.
“Obviously we’d all like to be like this from the start of the season to the end”, Odorizzi said. “Whatever happens is going to happen, and we need to focus every day, and not worry about what happened yesterday”.
Young (3-8) followed Ventura and pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win.
It was Strahm’s second appearance for the Royals since being called up from Kansas City’s Double-A affiliate. “A tack-on run there is huge”, Royals manger Ned Yost said of the eighth.
Duffy lost his bid for a ideal game when he walked Logan Forsythe to start the fourth.
Brad Miller took a punch to the gut on Monday when told he was losing his starting shortstop role and being moved primarily to first base.
Forsythe had three hits for the Rays, who left 11 on base and went 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position. Strahm has worked a combined one inning, allowing one hit, a run, a walk while striking out three.
Miller’s 19th home run of the season came off of Joakim Soria (4-5), who gave up three of Tampa Bay’s four hits for the game in his one inning.
Two days after the trade deadline, the Tampa Bay Rays are making major changes to their lineup with an eye on 2017, and Tuesday’s new wrinkle was moving centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier from the bottom of the order to the No. 2 hole, where he’ll be counted on as a catalyst.
Kiermaier answered the challenge Tuesday in the fifth inning against the Royals when he bunted for a hit that led to a pair of runs.
“You see three guys like those three guys leave sometimes it’s a little tough to stomach”, Longoria said. “We felt it’s best for the organization to get him over at first and allow Duffy the opportunity to play short”.
Advertisement
Royals: OF Billy Burns, acquired from Oakland Friday, was recalled from Triple-A Omaha and RHP Brooks Pounders was optioned to the Pacific Coast League club. The Royals expect him to be recovered by spring training. Carlos Villanueva (2-2) pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief of starter Jarred Cosart, allowing two runs and two hits.
