Rays can't keep good times going vs. Royals, lose another close game

Just when you might have thought the Rays had put their worst behind them and were ready to go on another hot streak, they showed otherwise.

Facing a Royals team that has been one of the American League's worst for much of the season, the Rays delivered an uninspiring performance Monday night in a 2-1 loss.

There wasn't really anything they did wrong on the mound, where Drew Rasmussen allowed two runs over six innings, or in the field.

Most damaging was another quiet night at the plate, as they were held to six hits by veteran Michael Wacha and two relievers, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and leaving five on.

"I credit their pitching. I didn't realize we had seven opportunities," manager Kevin Cash said. "We've just got to find ways to get that hit to ultimately tie that game up or give us a chance to take the lead."

Over their extended 9-17 skid, the Rays have scored three or fewer runs in 14 of the losses, including four shutouts.

"I think it's just the competitive mindset," infielder Ben Williamson said. "We need to start competing a little bit better at the plate right now."

That has been most glaring in the tightest of games. In building a majors-best 34-15 record through May 22, including a dazzling 22-4 run, they were 9-1 in one-run games.

But that dynamic has shifted significantly since, as they have lost six of eight decided by one run.

"We probably weren't quite as good as we were in the one-run games early on," Cash said, "and we're probably not as bad as we are right now in the one-run games."

After a 1-5 West Coast road trip extended the Rays' skid, they were hoping that winning two of three from a pesky Nationals team over the weekend to open a season-long 10-game homestand would provide some momentum to take advantage of the extended run at Tropicana Field, where they have the majors' best home record.

While they still might, Monday was not a good start.

Rasmussen, who had been on a sizzling streak, delivered a solid outing, though - illustrative of how good he's been - the two runs he allowed were more than in his previous three starts combined.

"I thought ‘Rass' did a nice job, kept us in the ballgame, two runs over six innings. We're going to take that most nights," Cash said.

"I don't think early on he had the best command of stuff. Pitch count got up to like mid-40s through two innings, but he does a nice job of resetting himself after the third and fourth, being super efficient to kind of give himself kind of normal pitch-usage allocation throughout the innings of work (90 over six)."

Though the Royals' 33-46 record is third worst in the American League, they are on a bit of an upswing. They have won four of their last five games, are hitting an AL-leading .280 in June and have scored the second most runs, 112.

The game got off to an odd start as No. 2 hitter Maikel Garcia's seemingly routine flyout to left struck one of the Trop catwalks and rebounded back toward Williamson at shortstop, but he couldn't hold it. Though the Royals didn't score in the inning, Rasmussen noted the extra stress and pitches as a result of having a man on second base with one out.

Overall, he said, "I really don't think (the outing) was all that bad."

Williamson said he had a hunch the ball might bounce his way and was frustrated he couldn't hang on.

"I was kind of just sitting there waiting, and then it clanked around a couple times and then I was like, ‘Oh crap, here it comes,'" he said. "I think I should make that play, but at the same point in time the spin on it changed and I wasn't able to read it."

The Royals got a run in the second. Michael Massey drew a leadoff walk and scored on Lane Thomas' double to left, sliding in as Williamson's relay throw pulled catcher Nick Fortes to the inside of the plate.

"I was just trying to get rid of the ball as quick as possible," Williamson said. "I thought I made a decent throw, I think he beat the throw anyways."

The Royals made it 2-0 in the fifth.

Nick Loftin singled with one out, stole second and scored on a single by Carter Jensen.

The Rays weren't able to get much going against Wacha, a 2021 Ray who has had a rough run, as the Royals had lost the previous seven games he started.

The Rays' only run came in the fifth, and with a historical notation.

After Richie Palacios singled with two outs, Yandy Diaz drove him home with a double.

That marked Diaz's 446th RBI with Tampa Bay, tying longtime teammate Brandon Lowe for seventh place on the franchise's all-time list. Diaz can climb quickly into the top five, as BJ Upton is sixth with 447 and Aubrey Huff fifth with 449.

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This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 9:37 PM.