Kansas City @ Tampa Bay preview
Tropicana Field
Last Meeting ( Apr 29, 2010 ) Kansas City 1, Tampa Bay 11
Not many teams in baseball have been able to slow down the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays. The last-place Kansas City Royals proved that they were not up to task in the series opener.
The Rays earned an 11-1 win over the Royals on Thursday to improve their record to a majors-best 18-5. It was Tampa Bay’s fifth consecutive win and seventh in their last eight contests.
The Royals dropped their third straight and were blanked against the Rays despite entering with a league-leading .288 team batting average.
Tampa Bay, on the other hand, received little resistance in teeing off on Kansas City starter Luke Hochevar, who was dinged for nine earned runs on 11 hits in just 2 2/3 innings.
Supplying the offense was Jason Bartlett and Reid Brignac, who each drove in three runs. Carl Crawford recorded four hits and finished a home run shy of the cycle as Tampa Bay has tallied 29 runs over the past three games.
The Rays will attempt to keep the hot streak moving in Friday’s second game of the series when they go up against right-hander Brian Bannister.
Bannister has compiled a record of 1-1 with a 4.13 ERA through four starts. He is coming off his first win of the campaign after allowing two earned runs on nine hits while recording 14 groundball outs in 6 1/3 innings against the Minnesota Twins.
The right-hander made a pair of starts at Tropicana Field last season, and they could not have been any more opposite. Bannister was shelled for eight runs over 3 2/3 innings of a 9-0 loss but later returned to toss seven shutout innings during a 4-1 victory.
The Royals pitching has been a large factor in the team’s lack of success. In the American League, they rank last in ERA and walks issues and are second worst in batting average against.
Much of the Rays success, however, has been based on pitching as they hold the AL’s best ERA at 3.28.
Jeff Niemann takes the ball for Tampa Bay on Thursday in an attempt to silence the Royals’ bats.
Niemann was forced to leave his season-opening start in the second inning due to a bruised right shoulder after being hit with a line drive but has shown no ill effects since. The right-hander has strung together three straight quality starts and boasts a record of 1-0 with a 3.27 ERA.
Niemann has two wins in two starts against the Royals, surrendering just one run over 17 innings.