ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — An error by
reliever Randy Choate helped Kansas City score twice in the ninth
inning, and the Royals held on to beat the first-place Tampa Bay Rays
3-2 on Friday night.
Evan Longoria nearly won it for the
Rays in the bottom of the ninth, but his long drive to left with two on
was caught at the wall for a sacrifice fly that made it 3-2.
With runners at first and second,
Joakim Soria retired B.J. Upton on a fly ball to end it.
Alberto Callaspo had a tiebreaking
sacrifice fly and Mitch Maier added a run-scoring single in the ninth
for the Royals, who won for only the second time in 12 games against
Tampa Bay since the start of last season.
Scott Podsednik reached safely when
Choate (0-2) misplayed his comebacker to start the ninth. After Billy
Butler singled and Jose Guillen was hit by a pitch from closer Rafael
Soriano, Callaspo gave the Royals a 2-1 lead with his sacrifice fly.
Maier's RBI single made it 3-1.
Longoria homered and had two RBIs for
the Rays, who lost for just the third time in the last 17 games. Tampa
Bay ended April with a 17-6 record.
Josh Rupe (1-1) threw a scoreless
eighth before Soria pitched the ninth for his sixth save. Soria walked
two and allowed a hit in the ninth, but held on.
Longoria put the Rays up 1-0 with an
opposite-field solo homer to right against Brian Bannister in the
second.
Guillen tied it in the seventh on a
run-scoring double off Jeff Niemann. The Royals wasted a great
opportunity later in the inning when Jason Kendall hit into a double
play with the bases loaded and one out.
Bannister gave up one run and two
hits — both to Longoria — in seven innings. He struck out three and
walked two.
Niemann allowed one run, three hits,
four walks and had three strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings. The right-hander
induced three double plays.
Choate replaced Niemann with a runner
on second and one out in the eighth. The left-hander worked out of the
jam by striking out Chris Getz and getting a grounder from David
DeJesus.
Tampa Bay first baseman Carlos Pena
tumbled over the railing and into the dugout while catching DeJesus'
foul ball during the fourth. A couple of Pena's teammates kept him from
crashing onto the dugout floor.
Notes
Tampa Bay adviser Don Zimmer
will need a flight with TVs on board to watch Homeboykris, co-owned by
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre, run in the Kentucky Derby. Zimmer
will be at a charity event in Boston on Saturday and is scheduled to be
flying back to Florida at post time. Zimmer reintroduced Torre to horse
racing when he was Torre's bench coach with the New York Yankees. …
The Royals reinstated Getz (strained right oblique) from the 15-day
disabled list and optioned RHP Victor Marte to Triple-A Omaha. … With
Getz starting at second, Callaspo moved from second to third and
replaced struggling 3B Alex Gordon. … Rays LHP J.P. Howell (strained
left shoulder) threw 32 pitches in his second bullpen session. He is
expected to be out until late May.