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Saturday, Sep. 2 4:15pm ET
7 errors in last 2 losses haunt D-Rays | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- The Tampa Bay Devil Rays threw away the game. Roberto Hernandez's throwing error allowed the go-ahead run to score in the ninth inning as the Kansas City Royals beat the Devil Rays 7-5 Saturday. The Devil Rays have made seven errors -- including four Saturday -- in dropping two straight games. It's the most errors Tampa Bay has made in back-to-back games. "We've given the last two away," Tampa Bay manager Larry Rothschild said. "It's a shame. We would have had a chance to win both of them. I don't think it was a lack of concentration. It's not just the errors, we've made more mistakes the last two days than show up as errors on the scoreboard." Wilson Delgado opened the ninth with a double off Hernandez (3-5) and advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt by catcher Mike DiFelice. After Johnny Damon grounded out, Delgado scored when Hernandez made a bad throw on pinch-hitter Dave McCarty's come-backer. "We caught a break," Royals manager Tony Muser said. "You play hard through nine innings, you try to do what you can do to win and we got some breaks. We got behind in the game, battled back and we held on." Hernandez checked Delgado at third, and then overthrew Fred McGriff from between the mound and first base. "That play right there, that's just the tip of what had happened the whole day," Hernandez said. "I messed up on that play. It wasn't a well played game from the get-go." Mike Sweeney brought home pinch-runner Carlos Febles with a sacrifice fly to close the scoring. "He's had a phenomenal year," Muser said. "He's driven in big, tough runs. Anytime you can increase your lead late in a game, it's always big. That's been very typical of Sweeney. Tonight was just another example." It was Sweeney's 124th RBI of the season. "Get McCarty out, Sweeney comes up and pops out to left and we're still playing," Hernandez said. Jose Santiago (7-4) threw three scoreless innings and Ricky Bottalico got the final three outs for his 15th save. The Royals are 29-28 on the road after starting the year with two wins in 11 games away from Kauffman Stadium. Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead without a hit in the second. After two walks and a wild pitch, Bobby Smith knocked in a run with a grounder. Steve Cox's RBI single gave the Devil Rays a 2-0 lead in the third. The Royals made it 2-1 in the fourth on Todd Dunwoody's RBI single. Consecutive run-scoring doubles by DiFelice and Felix Martinez put Tampa Bay up 4-1 in the bottom of the inning. Martinez doubled in his third straight game after just two extra base hits in his previous 23 games. A fifth-inning solo homer by Tampa Bay's Greg Vaughn, his 24th of the season, and runs by the Royals in the fifth and sixth innings tied the game at 5. "It's not a lack of trying," Vaughn said. "I think guys are trying so hard, maybe that's the reason things are not working out. For the most part this year, our defense has been pretty solid. We just didn't play very well today." Vaughn, dropped from third to fifth in the lineup, entered with eight hits in his last 65 at-bats. His home run, which snapped the Devil Rays' 53-inning homer drought, was off an overhanging catwalk 110-feet above the playing surface. Tampa Bay starter Bryan Rekar, who was bothered by a right middle finger blister, lasted five innings. He gave up three runs and four hits. Kansas City's Dan Reichert also went five innings, allowing five runs and six hits. Game notesThe Kansas City outfield did not have a putout. ... Royals C Gregg Zaun left the game in the third inning with a bruised left thumb. He was hit by a pitched ball in the top of the inning and left in the bottom half after backhanding a pitch in the same area. X-rays were negative. ... Vaughn is 3-for-3 with two homers against Reichert. ... Tampa Bay 1B Fred McGriff, two homers shy of joining Hall of Famer Frank Robinson as the only players with 200 homers in both leagues, has gone deep just three times in his last 154 at-bats. ... Kansas City 2B Carlos Febles (ankle) was activated from the 15-day disabled list. ... Reichert, who entered with an AL-leading 15 wild pitches, threw two in the opening three innings. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Kansas City Clubhouse Tampa Bay Clubhouse RECAPS Seattle 4 Boston 1
Kansas City 7
San Francisco 13
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