TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Freddy Fermin had three hits and an RBI, Kyle Isbel and Salvador Perez each drove in a run and Michael Lorenzen pitched six strong innings for his 50th career win as the Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Perez’s two-out double drove in Jonathan India in the first. One inning later, Fermin poked a single to right that allowed Drew Walters to advance from first to third, setting up Isbel’s sacrifice fly.
Fermin, who nearly left the game in the seventh after fouling a pitch off his hands, singled home Maikel Garcia to give Kansas City a two-run cushion in the ninth.
Lorenzen (3-3) halted the Rays’ five-game winning streak, his only blemish a solo homer to Junior Caminero in the fourth. After the homer, Lorenzen retired nine of his final 11 before three Kansas City relievers combined to shut out the Rays over the final three innings.
Carlos Estévez earned his eighth save.
Caminero fell a triple shy of the cycle, going 3 for 4 with an RBI for the Rays, who’ve dropped six of their last seven at Steinbrenner Field.
Rays start Taj Bradley (2-2) gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings, walking three and striking out two.
Key moment
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Brandon Lowe and Caminero singled off Lucas Erceg. The reliever then struck out Jonathan Aranda and induced an inning-ending groundout from Christopher Morel to escape the jam. The Rays finished 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position.
Key stat
Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. singled in the eighth to extend his hitting streak to 20 games, longest in the majors since José Iglesias hit safely in 22 straight from Sept. 6-30.
Up next
Royals LHP Noah Cameron is expected to make his big league debut on Wednesday against Rays RHP Drew Rasmussen (1-1, 2.10 ERA).
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AP MLB: https://www.apnews.com/hub/MLB
Zak Gilbert, The Associated Press
