Kansas City Royals vs Tampa Bay Rays Match Player Stats On May 26, 2021

Manuel Margot's one-out single in the 10th inning drove in the winning run as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Kansas City Royals 2-1 in the second game of a three-game series. The Rays evened the series at a game one night after seeing their 11-game winning streak snapped with a 2-1 loss.

The two teams have combined for six runs and 48 strikeouts in the first two games of the series.

Both teams are used to close games. The Rays have played 51 games, with 28 of them decided by one or two runs. The Royals played their 12th game in their past 14 to be decided by two or fewer runs.

J.P. Feyereisen (1-2) picked up the win after blowing the save in the ninth. Tyler Zuber (0-2) took the loss.

Andrew Benintendi, who had been robbed of extra bases three times by Rays center fielders in the series, took Feyereisen's 2-2 pitch out of reach into the seats in center to tie the game at 1 in the ninth. But that's all the offense the Royals could muster.

Neither starter factored in the decision. Tyler Glasnow allowed no runs on three hits in eight innings, walking two and striking out 11. He finished Wednesday tied for the MLB lead in strikeouts with 98 with Shane Bieber, moving past Gerrit Cole (92) and Trevor Bauer (91).

Mike Minor tied a season high with nine strikeouts, but he also walked four. He allowed one run on two hits.

While Glasnow continued to be perfect through four, Minor's difficulty finding the strike zone finally caught up with him in the fourth. Mike Brosseau earned a one-out walk, Minor's fourth. With two outs, Mike Zunino singled to left, driving in Brosseau with the game's first run.

The Royals finally got a runner in the fifth, but Glasnow escaped the jam with a groundout, stranding two. The Royals had only one runner reach second base prior to Benintendi's homer in the ninth.

--Field Level Media