Royals Manage Only 4 Hits in Loss

Another gutsy outing by a starter. D.J. Carrasco, making his first start of the year, pitched 6 innings and only gave up 2 runs on 5 hits. Cerda and MacDougal both pitched well in relief—keeping the Royals in the game through the first eight innings. The Royals were down 2-1 as the entered the eighth when they got a rally going.

Teahen singled to lead off the inning. Gotay blooped a pitch in front of Hollins in center. Berroa got a sacrifice bunt down and moved the runners over to second and third. That was the end for starter Doug Waechter—who pitched well. DeJesus drew an intentional walk and Marrero hit a ball deep enough to center to score Gotay from third on the sacrifice. The game was tied 2-2 after eight.

Ambiorix Burgos entered for the ninth inning. After striking out Cantu and Hall, Alex Gonzalez crushed the first pitch he saw 425 feet into the left center field fountain. Rays win 3-2 after the Royals are unable to muster a come from behind victory in the bottom of the inning.

Not a lot to analyze tonight. The Royals only had 4 hits. It's hard to win games when nobody is hitting, and not having Sweeney in the line up makes all the difference.

Ken Harvey left the game after his first AB with tightness in his back.

That's it for me from the press box. I'm headed back to Omaha in the morning. I got the interviews I needed for the two newspapers I write for.