The Tampa Bay Rays came within two outs of a combined no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday but fell short in a 13-2 victory at Tropicana Field. Reliever Craig Kimbrel allowed a two-run homer to catcher Carter Jensen with one out in the ninth inning. The Rays used an opener and a bulk reliever to keep the Royals hitless until that point.
Casey Legumina opened the game and worked 1 1/3 perfect innings. Ian Seymour then took over and pitched 6 2/3 hitless innings with seven strikeouts and one walk before manager Kevin Cash removed him after 90 pitches.
Kimbrel entered in the ninth and walked Starling Marte before striking out Tyler Tolbert. Jensen then homered to end the no-hit bid. Kimbrel said afterward, “I hate that I wasn’t able to close it out. It was an unbelievable job by Seymour.”
Junior Caminero hit three home runs for the Rays, including a three-run shot in the eighth off position player Tolbert. The win improved Tampa Bay to 45-33 while Kansas City fell to 34-48.
