For the second night in a row, all the offense the Royals could muster at Tropicana Field came via home run.
Whit Merrifield banged one into the left-field foul pole on Wednesday night to lead off the fourth inning, cutting the Royals’ early deficit in half. Four innings later, Hunter Dozier struck a two-run blast to center field to get the Royals back within one run of a tie.
But after Alcides Escobar hit a ground-rule double with one out to keep the inning alive, no one else could build off the momentum. Merrifield and Alex Gordon struck out in back-to-back at-bats, ending the threat and ultimately costing the Royals in a 6-3 loss to the Rays.