ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Rays' 12-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals was marred by one ugly moment.
Chris Archer pitched eight shutout innings Wednesday night and Logan Morrison, Rickie Weeks Jr., and Colby Rasmus homered for the Rays.
With Tampa Bay leading 7-0 in the seventh inning, Archer hit Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez in the left elbow with a pitch, and Perez took issue with it.
Words were exchanged, providing the emotional highlight of a game that had very few of them, at least from the Royals' point of view.
Archer (3-1) won for the first time in five starts since April 14 to help the Rays break a three-game losing streak. He scattered five singles and walked none, and his control is one of the reasons Perez had a problem with the pitch that hit him.
"Yeah, of course he threw at me. He's going to throw at me because I had two hits against him," Perez said. "I think he was mad. I don't think that's the right way."
"Honestly there was nothing malicious there," Archer said. "I've had some great interactions with him the past. He's a good hitter; I'm trying to pitch inside. There was no malicious intent with 96 mph."
Asked if he understood Perez's angry reaction, Archer said: "No."
Morrison's ninth homer of the season, and his fourth in seven games, came off Kansas City starter Jason Hammel with a man on in the third inning. Weeks followed with his second home run, putting the Rays up 4-0.
Rasmus hit a grand slam off reliever Peter Moylan in the eighth, the sixth slam of his career.
Everyone in the Tampa Bay lineup had at least one hit for the second straight day. Corey Dickerson had a triple and a single and scored three runs.
Hammel (1-4) gave up six earned runs and 13 hits in seven innings, dropping to 0-6 in his last seven road starts.
The Rays scored their first run on a sacrifice fly double play. With Dickerson on third base, Evan Longoria on first and one out in the first inning, Morrison hit a short fly ball that was caught by Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar. Longoria was caught too far off base and doubled up, but not until after Dickerson had tagged up and scored.
Archer threw 101 pitches, marking his 17th straight start in which he threw at least 100 pitches. It was the 20th double-digit strikeout game of his career and his first win against the Royals.
"(The Royals) have given all of us fits and have given (Archer) fits, too," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "I don't think he did anything differently tonight. He's in a good rhythm right now and it carries over game to game."
FIRST HIT, RBI FOR SOLER
Jorge Soler drove in Kansas City's only run with a ninth-inning double off reliever Jose Alvarado. It was the first hit as a Royal for Soler, who came in a Dec. 7 trade with the Chicago Cubs for reliever Wade Davis. Soler came off the DL on Saturday after having a strained left oblique. He is 1 for 16 in five games.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (hamstring) has resumed throwing off a mound. ... RHP Seth Maness, who underwent surgery on Aug. 18 to repair a torn UCL in his throwing elbow, had his contract purchased from Triple-A Omaha.
Rays: RF Steven Souza Jr. (sore thumb) was out of the lineup for the second consecutive game. ... SS Matt Duffy (Achilles' tendon surgery) had no soreness one day after his first rehab game with Class-A Charlotte. He had Wednesday off.
UP NEXT
Thursday's series finale features two of the hottest pitchers in the AL. Royals LHP Jason Vargas is 4-1 with a league-leading 1.19 ERA. Rays RHP Jake Odorizzi (2-1, 2.88) has given up only eight hits in his last four starts, one of which he left after one inning with a strained hamstring.





Final
Series: Game 3 of 4

Royals 1

(12-21, 4-12 away)

Rays 12

(17-19, 12-9 home)






7:10PM,EDT,May 10,2017
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg,Florida 

123456789 R H E
KC 000000001 1 8 1
TB 10321005 - 12 16 0
W: C. Archer (3-1)
L: J. Hammel (1-4)





View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-PitchInning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Kansas City - Top of 1stSCORE
Chris Archer pitching for Tampa BayKCTB
Escobar fouled out to catcher.00
Moustakas struck out swinging.00
Cain singled to right.00
Hosmer struck out swinging.00
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Tampa Bay - Bottom of 1stSCORE
Jason Hammel pitching for Kansas CityKCTB
Dickerson hit by pitch.00
Miller struck out swinging.00
Longoria singled to right, Dickerson to third.00
Morrison hit sacrifice fly to shortstop, Dickerson scored, Longoria tagged out at second.01
1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Kansas City - Top of 2ndSCORE
Chris Archer pitching for Tampa BayKCTB
Pérez singled to center.01
Gordon grounded into fielder's choice to second, Pérez out at second.01
Soler grounded into double play, third to second to first, Gordon out at second.01
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Tampa Bay - Bottom of 2ndSCORE
Jason Hammel pitching for Kansas CityKCTB
Weeks Jr. singled to right.01
Rasmus struck out swinging.01
Beckham singled to left center, Weeks Jr. to second.01
Kiermaier flied out to left.01
Norris walked, Weeks Jr. to third, Beckham to second.01
Dickerson flied out to left.01
0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Kansas City - Top of 3rdSCORE
Chris Archer pitching for Tampa BayKCTB
Moss struck out looking.01
Cuthbert grounded out to third.01
Escobar struck out swinging.01
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Tampa Bay - Bottom of 3rdSCORE
Jason Hammel pitching for Kansas CityKCTB
Miller lined out to left.01
Longoria safe at first on throwing error by shortstop Escobar.01
Morrison homered to center (444 feet), Longoria scored.03
Weeks Jr. homered to left center (393 feet).04
Rasmus grounded out to second.04
Beckham flied out to center.04
3 Runs, 2 Hits, 1 Errors
Kansas City - Top of 4thSCORE
Chris Archer pitching for Tampa BayKCTB
Moustakas struck out swinging.04
Cain grounded out to shortstop.04
Hosmer grounded out to shortstop.04
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Tampa Bay - Bottom of 4thSCORE
Jason Hammel pitching for Kansas CityKCTB
Kiermaier fouled out to catcher.04
Norris singled to left.04
Dickerson tripled to right, Norris scored.05
Miller hit sacrifice fly to right, Dickerson scored.06
Longoria hit a ground rule double to deep center.06
Morrison struck out swinging.06
2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors
Kansas City - Top of 5thSCORE
Chris Archer pitching for Tampa BayKCTB
Pérez singled to left.06
Gordon struck out swinging.06
Soler fouled out to first.06
Moss struck out swinging.06
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Tampa Bay - Bottom of 5thSCORE
Jason Hammel pitching for Kansas CityKCTB
Weeks Jr. grounded out to shortstop.06
Rasmus singled to center.06
Beckham struck out looking.06
Kiermaier singled to center, Rasmus to second.06
Norris singled to center, Rasmus scored, Kiermaier to third, Norris thrown out at second attempting to advance on play.07
1 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors
Kansas City - Top of 6thSCORE
Chris Archer pitching for Tampa BayKCTB
Cuthbert flied out to right.07
Escobar flied out to center.07
Moustakas struck out swinging.07
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Tampa Bay - Bottom of 6thSCORE
Jason Hammel pitching for Kansas CityKCTB
Dickerson flied out to right.07
Miller popped out to shortstop.07
Longoria flied out to right.07
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Kansas City - Top of 7thSCORE
Chris Archer pitching for Tampa BayKCTB
Cain singled to right.07
Bonifacio ran for Cain.07
Hosmer struck out swinging.07
Pérez hit by pitch, Bonifacio to second.07
Butera ran for Pérez.07
Gordon popped out to third.07
Soler struck out swinging.07
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Tampa Bay - Bottom of 7thSCORE
Jason Hammel pitching for Kansas CityKCTB
Bonifacio in left field.07
Butera catching.07
Gordon in center field.07
Morrison flied out to center.07
Weeks Jr. struck out looking.07
Rasmus singled to right.07
Beckham singled to center, Rasmus to second.07
Kiermaier struck out swinging.07
0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Kansas City - Top of 8thSCORE
Chris Archer pitching for Tampa BayKCTB
Moss struck out swinging.07
Cuthbert grounded out to shortstop.07
Escobar singled to left center.07
Escobar to second on wild pitch by Archer.07
Moustakas popped out to second.07
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Tampa Bay - Bottom of 8thSCORE
Peter Moylan pitching for Kansas CityKCTB
Moylan relieved Hammel.07
Norris grounded out to shortstop.07
Dickerson singled to center.07
Miller reached on infield single to third, Dickerson to second.07
Robertson hit for Longoria.07
Robertson grounded out to first, Dickerson to third, Miller to second.07
Morrison intentionally walked.07
Weeks Jr. walked, Dickerson scored, Miller to third, Morrison to second.08
Rasmus homered to left center (383 feet), Miller, Morrison and Weeks Jr. scored.012
Beckham struck out swinging.012
5 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors
Kansas City - Top of 9thSCORE
Jumbo Diaz pitching for Tampa BayKCTB
Robertson at third base.012
Díaz relieved Archer.012
Bonifacio popped out to shortstop.012
Hosmer singled to center.012
Butera singled to left center, Hosmer to second.012
Gordon struck out swinging.012
Soler doubled to left, Hosmer scored, Butera to third.112
Moss struck out swinging.112
1 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors



 Kansas City Royals

HittersABRHRBIBBSO#PAVGOBPSLG
Escobar SS40100110.186.220.254
Moustakas 3B40000325.246.276.492
Cain CF30200012.284.399.379
Bonifacio PR-LF
1000003.235.304.353
Hosmer 1B41100217.291.345.402
Pérez C2020008.284.325.517
Butera PR-C
1010002.240.240.400
Gordon LF-CF40000212.164.271.207
Soler RF4011017.063.118.125
Moss DH40000419.150.233.313
Cuthbert 2B3000007.119.159.214
Totals34181013122   
BATTING
2B: Soler (1, Díaz)
RBI: Soler (1)
2-out RBI: Soler
GIDP: Soler
Royals RISP: 1-6 (Moustakas 0-1, Gordon 0-2, Moss 0-1, Soler 1-2)
Team LOB: 7
FIELDING
E: Escobar (2, throw)
DP: 1 (Escobar-Cuthbert).
Outfield Assist: Cain (Norris at 2nd base).

Game Information

StadiumTropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL
Attendance9,320 (30% full) - % is based on regular season capacity
Game Time2:49
Weatherindoors
UmpiresHome Plate - Chad Whitson, First Base - Mike Everitt, Second Base - Bill Welke, Third Base - Bruce Dreckman