Royals break through in eighth and beat Rays 6-2

Not exactly a comeback, because the Royals never trailed the Rays on Monday.

But late-inning heroics were offered up just the same.

The Royals won the series opener 6-2 on some eighth-inning dramatics that included — but wasn’t limited to — Alcides Escobar leaping like a running back over a tackler to avoid a ball bouncing his way.

The Rays had made it 2-2 in the eighth when the Royals stepped up.

Escobar’s one-out single got it started. On a hit-and-run, Whit Merrifield bounced one to where second baseman Steve Pearce should have been.

The only issue: Could Escobar avoid the ball? He did with a leap, the ball spinning between his legs into the outfield.

“The ball never touched me, not even close,” Escobar said.

Escobar hustled to third and broke the tie when Lorenzo Cain laced a single to right.

Eric Hosmer then put the game out of reach with his 10th home run, a 414-foot shot that scored three runs. Hosmer has 10 RBIs in his last four games.

“I feel like I’m getting a lot of opportunities,” Hosmer said. “As a hitter, when you’re feeling good and you have guys on base, it’s just kind of a bonus.”

The Royals stayed hot, winning their fourth straight and 11th in the last 14 games. They increased their lead in the AL Central to 1  1/2 games over the second-place Indians.

The outcome reversed a recent trend when it came to starting pitching. Over the weekend, the Royals defied the odds by posting victories in three games after facing deficits of at least two runs from the seventh inning on. That was a franchise first.

But they were in that position largely because starters were tagged for 14 earned runs in 18  1/3 innings. Entering the game, Royals starters had combined for a 16-20 record and 4.81 ERA, ranking 23rd in baseball. The bullpen’s 2.47 ERA was the best.

The pattern came to a halt Monday. Starter Ian Kennedy handed the Royals’ bullpen a lead when he departed after six innings.

“He made big pitches for us,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “It was big for him to get us through the sixth.”

It wasn’t Kennedy’s top effort of the season. He walked a season-high five, which ran up his pitch count. But for the first time in five games, the Royals didn’t trail heading into the late innings.

Kennedy went only 3 1/3 innings in his last outing, a rain-delayed Royals victory at Minnesota.

On Monday, Kennedy worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first and consecutive walks with two outs in the fifth.

Jarrod Dyson’s speed pushed the Royals into the lead in the fifth. With one out, Dyson dropped a single in front of center fielder Desmond Jennings, who didn’t field the ball cleanly.

“He had to turn around, pick it up and make a throw,” Dyson said. “When you have to turn around like that, nine times out of 10 the throw isn’t on line. But he had it on line. I just ended up getting in there.”

Dyson saw the misplay as he rounded first and beat the throw at second. As Drew Butera took ball four, Dyson broke for third.

The throw from catcher Hank Conger flew into left field and Dyson scored easily.

The Rays made it 2-2 in the eighth, scoring a run against Royals relief ace Kelvin Herrera.

The Royals lost a chance for a run in the seventh when a piece of base-running daring broke in favor of the Rays. Paulo Orlando singled and went to second on Matt Andriese’s second balk of the game.

When Cheslor Cuthbert grounded out to third, the speedy Orlando took off. He beat the across-the-diamond throw from first baseman Logan Morrison, but Orlando’s momentum from the slide carried him off the bag and he was tagged out.

Orlando wasted no time extending his hitting streak to 13 games, and his second-inning double was the pivotal swing in the Royals’ first run.

Kendrys Morales, who walked with one out, moved to third on Orlando’s line drive to the left-field gap and scored when Rays second baseman Pearce decided to take Cuthbert’s grounder to first. It appeared a good throw to the plate would have beaten Morales.

The Rays scored the same way in the fourth. Morrison hit a ball that reached the right-field wall so quickly that he stopped at first. But Morrison, a Kansas City native who played at Maple Woods, stole second and took third when catcher Butera’s throw went into center field.

The Royals brought their infield in halfway and Kennedy got what he wanted, a ground ball from Corey Dickerson to second baseman Merrifield. But the softly hit ball made throwing home not an option, and Morrison’s run tied the game.

Royals 6, Rays 2

E: Jennings (1), Conger (2), Miller (7), Butera (1). LOB: Tampa Bay 8, Kansas City 4. 2B: Orlando (6). HR: Hosmer (10), off Ramirez. RBIs: Souza Jr. (20), Dickerson (20), Cain (29), Hosmer 3 (33), Cuthbert (5). SB: Morrison (4), Dyson (9).

Runners left in scoring position: Tampa Bay 4 (Morrison 2, Souza Jr. 2); Kansas City 3 (Cain, Morales, Dyson). RISP: Tampa Bay 1 for 5; Kansas City 2 for 9. Runners moved up: Dickerson, Morrison, Cuthbert, Escobar, Merrifield. GIDP: Escobar, Cuthbert. DP: Tampa Bay 2 (Motter, Pearce, Morrison), (Motter, Miller, Morrison).

Hold: Soria (8). Umpires: Home, Dale Scott; First, Bob Davidson; Second, Lance Barrett; Third, Dan Iassogna. Time: 3:03. Att: 32,018.

This story was originally published May 30, 2016 at 10:39 PM with the headline "Royals break through in eighth and beat Rays 6-2."