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For the second time in eight days, Ian Seymour dominated the Kansas City Royals. The Tampa Bay left-hander held Kansas City to one run over six innings Thursday night, and the Rays wrapped up a three-game sweep with a 5-2 win in front of 16,814 at Kauffman Stadium.
Thursday’s loss dropped the Royals to 35-53, last in the AL Central and 11 games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox as of Thursday night. Tampa Bay improved to 51-33 with the victory and has now beaten Kansas City in five straight meetings.
Carter Jensen put the Royals in front early, sending a 449-foot homer to center field in the first inning for a 1-0 lead. It was the lone run the Rays starter surrendered.
The KC lead did not survive the second. Tampa Bay strung together a Taylor Walls RBI double, a Richie Palacios RBI single and a Hunter Feduccia RBI triple against Stephen Kolek to move ahead 3-1.
Kolek’s outing ended after two innings. He allowed four hits and three earned runs with one walk and no strikeouts, falling to 4-3 on the season with the loss.
Cedric Mullins added on in the fifth, lifting a two-run homer to right field that pushed the lead to 5-1. Isaac Collins got one back in the seventh with a 428-foot drive to center, but Kansas City managed nothing more. Bryan Baker closed things out for his 22nd save of the season.
Seymour struck out eight against one walk, scattering three hits across 83 pitches to move to 5-1. Through Thursday, the 27-year-old owns a 4.02 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP with 60 strikeouts over 56 innings this season, and just four of his 31 appearances have been starts.
Selected 57th overall by Tampa Bay out of Virginia Tech in 2020, Seymour debuted in June 2025 and has been especially tough on the Royals. He held Kansas City hitless into the seventh inning of a 13-2 Rays win on June 25, striking out seven, and Jensen’s ninth-inning homer that night was all that kept Rays pitching from finishing a combined no-hitter.
A Kansas City native who attended Park Hill High School, Jensen grew up a Royals fan and was in the stands at Kauffman Stadium for the 2014 World Series. The Royals drafted him in the third round in 2021, and he turns 23 on Friday.
Through Thursday, Jensen is hitting .251 with 13 home runs and 47 RBIs in 81 games. Collins is batting .232 with four home runs and 25 RBIs through 77 games.
Kansas City dropped the series opener 10-4 on Tuesday and was blanked 4-0 on Wednesday before Thursday’s finale. The Rays also won both matchups in Tampa Bay last week, taking the June 24 meeting 5-3.
The Royals are off Friday before opening a three-game Fourth of July weekend set against the Philadelphia Phillies at Kauffman Stadium. Michael Wacha is scheduled to start Saturday’s opener, with first pitch set for 8:10 p.m. ET.
Continue reading...
Thursday’s loss dropped the Royals to 35-53, last in the AL Central and 11 games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox as of Thursday night. Tampa Bay improved to 51-33 with the victory and has now beaten Kansas City in five straight meetings.
Carter Jensen put the Royals in front early, sending a 449-foot homer to center field in the first inning for a 1-0 lead. It was the lone run the Rays starter surrendered.
The KC lead did not survive the second. Tampa Bay strung together a Taylor Walls RBI double, a Richie Palacios RBI single and a Hunter Feduccia RBI triple against Stephen Kolek to move ahead 3-1.
Kolek’s outing ended after two innings. He allowed four hits and three earned runs with one walk and no strikeouts, falling to 4-3 on the season with the loss.
Cedric Mullins added on in the fifth, lifting a two-run homer to right field that pushed the lead to 5-1. Isaac Collins got one back in the seventh with a 428-foot drive to center, but Kansas City managed nothing more. Bryan Baker closed things out for his 22nd save of the season.
Seymour struck out eight against one walk, scattering three hits across 83 pitches to move to 5-1. Through Thursday, the 27-year-old owns a 4.02 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP with 60 strikeouts over 56 innings this season, and just four of his 31 appearances have been starts.
Selected 57th overall by Tampa Bay out of Virginia Tech in 2020, Seymour debuted in June 2025 and has been especially tough on the Royals. He held Kansas City hitless into the seventh inning of a 13-2 Rays win on June 25, striking out seven, and Jensen’s ninth-inning homer that night was all that kept Rays pitching from finishing a combined no-hitter.
A Kansas City native who attended Park Hill High School, Jensen grew up a Royals fan and was in the stands at Kauffman Stadium for the 2014 World Series. The Royals drafted him in the third round in 2021, and he turns 23 on Friday.
Through Thursday, Jensen is hitting .251 with 13 home runs and 47 RBIs in 81 games. Collins is batting .232 with four home runs and 25 RBIs through 77 games.
Kansas City dropped the series opener 10-4 on Tuesday and was blanked 4-0 on Wednesday before Thursday’s finale. The Rays also won both matchups in Tampa Bay last week, taking the June 24 meeting 5-3.
The Royals are off Friday before opening a three-game Fourth of July weekend set against the Philadelphia Phillies at Kauffman Stadium. Michael Wacha is scheduled to start Saturday’s opener, with first pitch set for 8:10 p.m. ET.
Continue reading...
