Rays 2 - 4 Royals
Final
  for this game

Rays look to change road fortune at Kansas City

Jul 24, 2008 - 11:13 AM Tampa Bay (59-41) at Kansas City (45-57) 8:10 p.m. EDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- The 2008 campaign has been a tale of two seasons, one at home and one on the road, for Matt Garza and the Tampa Bay Rays. He will look to change that when he takes the hill in the opening game of a four-game set at Kansas City on Thursday.

Garza (8-5, 3.68) is 2-4 in eight road starts with a 5.91 era, while the 24-year-old righthander boasts a 6-1 record with a 2.10 ERA at home.

Tampa Bay has a league-high 40 home wins against 16 losses. Away from Tropicana Field, however, the Rays are a pedestrian 19-25. If they intend to stay on top of the American League East, that number must improve - 37 of their final 62 games are on the road.

The Rays salvaged the rubber game of a three-game set against the Oakland A's, 4-3, on Wednesday behind 8 1/3 innings pitched by James Shields, who gave up three runs on six hits, striking out seven.

Tampa Bay leads the AL East by a half-game over the Boston Red Sox and 3 1/2 over the charging Yankees. They don't face either until September, when they have a pair of three-game sets against each.

Gil Meche (7-9, 4.55) gets the start for the Royals, who are coming off an embarassing sweep at the hands of the Detroit Tigers. Kansas City was outscored 33-6, in the series that marked the sixth time the Royals have been swept .

In his last start, Meche allowed a season-low two hits to the Chicago White Sox over 6 1/3 innings, giving up one run and striking out six in a 9-1 Royals victory.








  • AL
    FINAL
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
    - - - - - - - - - - - -
    TAMPA BAY 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 8 0
    KANSAS CITY 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 x 4 10 0 (FINAL)

    BATTERIES: TAM - MATT GARZA, J.P. HOWELL (6TH), GRANT BALFOUR (7TH), DAN
    WHEELER (8TH) AND DIONER NAVARRO
    KAN - GIL MECHE, RON MAHAY (8TH), JOAKIM SORIA (9TH)
    AND JOHN BUCK


    Jul 24 10:56 PM


  • AL
    AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
    SACRIFICE FLY BY CLIFF FLOYD SCORED EVAN LONGORIA.
    SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C PENA ON FIRST, 1 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 2
    KANSAS CITY 4 TOP, 9TH
    DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: D NAVARRO (.314, 1-FOR-3)

    Rays 2, Royals 4  Top 9, 0 OutsJul 24 10:55 PM


  • AL
    AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
    GROUND OUT BY B.J. UPTON SCORED JASON BARTLETT.
    SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, NONE ON, 2 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 1
    KANSAS CITY 4 TOP, 8TH
    DUE UP FOR TAMPA BAY: C CRAWFORD (.269, 1-FOR-3)

    Rays 1, Royals 4  Top 8, 0 OutsJul 24 10:37 PM
  • 50
    roots
    senorpepr Added 5 roots

    Rays 0, Royals 4  Top 7, 0 OutsJul 24 10:19 PM
  • 40
    roots
    RUWTbot Added 35 roots

    Rays 0, Royals 4  Bot 5, 0 OutsJul 24 9:44 PM


  • AL
    AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
    DOUBLE BY JOHN BUCK SCORED BILLY BUTLER AND ROSS GLOAD.
    SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, J BUCK ON SECOND, 1 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 0
    KANSAS CITY 4 BOTTOM, 4TH
    DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: M MAIER (.000, 0-FOR-1)

    Rays 0, Royals 4  Bot 4, 0 OutsJul 24 9:34 PM


  • AL
    AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
    SINGLE BY ROSS GLOAD SCORED ALEX GORDON.
    SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R GLOAD ON FIRST, B BUTLER ON SECOND, 1 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 0
    KANSAS CITY 2 BOTTOM, 4TH
    DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: J BUCK (.251, 0-FOR-0, BB)

    Rays 0, Royals 2  Bot 4, 0 OutsJul 24 9:31 PM


  • AL
    AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
    SACRIFICE FLY BY MARK GRUDZIELANEK SCORED DAVID DEJESUS.
    SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M AVILES ON FIRST, 1 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: TAMPA BAY 0
    KANSAS CITY 1 BOTTOM, 1ST
    DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: J GUILLEN (.265, 13 HR, 66 RBI)

    Rays 0, Royals 1  Bot 1, 0 OutsJul 24 8:31 PM

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