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Butler helps Royals salvage split against Rays

Jul 27, 2008 - 10:43 PM By Marc Bowman PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Billy Butler belted a three-run homer as the Kansas City Royals rolled to a 6-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday to salvage a four-game split.

Fourteen of Butler's 33 RBI this season have come in nine games following the All-Star break, and five of his six homers have come in July.

"I'm relaxed up there right now and I'm swinging at good pitches," Butler said. "When you're going good, you're going to produce runs. I don't feel like I'm doing anything different, but obviously I'm getting the results."

David DeJesus connected on a run-scoring double in fifth and later came around - along with Esteban German - on Butler's blast in the seventh.

"I feel comfortable wherever I'm hitting," DeJesus said. "I like hitting with people on base. I'm just trying to do my job in that situation."

Mike Aviles launched a solo shot in the first for Kansas City, which took a 2-0 lead when DeJesus and Butler led off the fourth with back-to-back doubles.

"It was a little slider," Aviles said. "He had two strikes on me and he was trying to expand the zone, and I got a good pitch to hit. It's always good to get runs on the board early and put pressure on them."

DeJesus leads the American League in hitting with runners on base, batting .395 (45-for-114).

"It felt like if we scored first we would win the game," DeJesus said. "When Tampa came to town we wanted to prove that we could play with them, especially after the Tigers series (in which Detroit swept three games from Kansas City). We feel we're right on the same level with them."

Kyle Davies pitched from the stretch for most of the game as Tampa Bay had baserunners in five of six innings. However, he kept the Rays off the board until the sixth en route to his first win since June 17, a span of six starts.

"We needed a split," Davies said. "The first five innings, I felt a whole lot better today. The last start I think I had a three-ball count on every batter. Today I got to two strikes before two balls. The next start I will try to build on these positives."

The 24-year-old righthander left after Evan Longoria doubled following Carl Crawford's RBI single in the sixth. Davies (4-2) hurled five-plus innings, allowing one run and six hits while walking two and fanning two.

Rays starter Andy Sonnanstine (10-6) pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing five runs and eight hits, striking out two.

The 25-year-old righthander has lost three straight starts after a personal four-game winning streak in which the Rays won seven straight.

"I thought (Sonnanstine) pitched really well," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "He did a really good job. He was a lot more aggressive with his delivery."

Tampa Bay hasn't won a road series against an American League opponent since taking two out of three from the Texas Rangers on June 6-8.

"This game is a lot about momentum," Maddon said. "We had second and third with no outs and didn't get a run in. That's huge. We had chances to score. We're showing signs of coming around, but we just didn't piece it together today. We'll just have to clump it up a little better."