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Royals take aim at fourth straight win in middle tilt with Rays

Jul 23, 2011 - 2:38 PM (Sports Network) - The Kansas City Royals try to string together four straight wins for the first time since early May when they host the Tampa Bay Rays in the second test of a three-game set tonight at Kauffman Stadium.

Kansas City might already be 12 games out of contention in the American League Central, but for the moment the club matches the LA Angels for the longest win streak in the Junior Circuit at three games, thanks to a 10-4 triumph in the series opener on Friday night.

The Royals jumped on Tampa Bay in the first inning, posting three runs on their way to belting out 16 hits in the comfortable win.

"It was horrible. We just played badly today," Rays manager Joe Maddon said of his team's effort. "There's nothing we did well today. We had a chance to really blow that game open in the first inning and let it get away and then we uncharacteristically did not play a good game on the field."

Melky Cabrera finished 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI, while Billy Butler delivered a solo home run. Eric Hosmer chipped in with a pair of RBI for the Royals as they claimed the first meeting of the season between the clubs.

KC starter Luke Hochevar made it through 5 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on six hits while walking three and fanning two as he picked up his sixth win of the campaign.

Wade Davis wasn't so lucky as he worked 5 1/3 innings as well, yielding six runs -- five earned -- on 11 hits. He fanned three and did not issue a walk in his return from a stint on the disabled list with a strained right forearm.

Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce connected on home runs for the Rays, while Ben Zobrist chipped in with an RBI for Tampa Bay, which was coming off a win over the division-rival Yankees a day earlier.

Facing off against the Rays for the first time in his career tonight, Jeff Francis figures to get the call to the hill for the hosts. The lefty, now in his seventh major league season, has been rumored as a possible trade commodity, but for the time being he's still throwing for the Royals.

Francis has won just once since the start of June, a 4-2 triumph over the Angels. Unfortunately, since then KC has fallen in all six of his appearances, the most recent of those coming a week ago when he allowed four runs on seven hits over 7 1/3 innings versus Minnesota in a 4-3 loss.

As for the Rays, they've identified Jeff Niemann as their starter this time around. The right-hander, sporting a perfect 3-0 record with a minuscule 0.71 ERA in three career games versus the Royals, failed to earn a decision in a heartbreaker last weekend when he permitted just two hits in eight shutout innings, while striking out a season-high 10 versus Boston. Eventually the Sox picked up a run and claimed the 1-0 victory in 16 innings.

Despite not picking up the win against Boston, Niemann is still 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA wince coming off the DL in June.

Tampa Bay, which is 12th in the league in batting with a disappointing .243 average, is now 8 1/2 games behind Boston for first in the AL East, having dropped seven of the last 10 contests. On the bright side, the Rays have been a strong team on the road in 2011 with a mark of 28-21.

Still 17 games under .500 at this stage of the campaign, Kansas City has had a tough time matching up with the competition due to the fact that the team's collective ERA is 4.46 which ranks them ahead of only Baltimore (4.81) in the American League heading into the weekend.