GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: KANSAS CITY (19-35) at TAMPA BAY (22-29)

AL: KANSAS CITY at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
KANSAS CITY 4
TAMPA BAY 1 FINAL</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KANSAS CITY (4) AT TAMPA BAY (1) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

KANSAS CITY 2ND: M Sweeney tripled to deep right. M Sweeney scored on
S Kazmir's wild pitch. E Brown walked. R Shealy struck out swinging, E Brown
stole second, E Brown to third on throwing error by catcher S Riggans. A Gordon
struck out swinging. T Pena Jr reached on infield single to shortstop, E Brown
scored. J LaRue singled to center, T Pena Jr to third. E German singled to
left, T Pena Jr scored, J LaRue to second. M Grudzielanek grounded out to
shortstop. (3 Runs, 4 Hits, 1 Error) KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 0.

TAMPA BAY 5TH: G Norton homered to right. C Pena grounded out to first.
D Young lined out to center. A Iwamura grounded out to second. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 1.

KANSAS CITY 8TH: B Stokes relieved S Kazmir. M Teahen singled to center.
M Teahen to second on wild pitch by B Stokes. M Sweeney grounded out to third,
M Teahen to third. E Brown doubled to deep center, M Teahen scored. S Camp
relieved B Stokes. R Shealy struck out swinging. A Gordon intentionally
walked. T Pena Jr struck out swinging. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
KANSAS CITY 4, TAMPA BAY 1.</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KANSAS CITY (4) AT TAMPA BAY (1) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kansas City Starting Lineups -- E German LF, M Grudzielanek 2B, M Teahen CF,
M Sweeney DH, E Brown RF, R Shealy 1B, A Gordon 3B, T Pena Jr SS, J LaRue C,
B Bannister RHP.

Tampa Bay Starting Lineups -- E Dukes CF, B Upton 2B, C Crawford LF, G Norton DH,
C Pena 1B, D Young RF, A Iwamura 3B, S Riggans C, B Harris SS, S Kazmir LHP.

Umpires -- Ed Hickox (HP), C.B. Bucknor (1B), Joe West (2B), Ed Rapuano (3B).


Gametime Weather: INDOORS.


KANSAS CITY 1ST: E German grounded out to shortstop. M Grudzielanek
grounded out to shortstop. M Teahen struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TAMPA BAY 0.

TAMPA BAY 1ST: E Dukes grounded out to first. B Upton flied out to center.
C Crawford grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0,
TAMPA BAY 0.

KANSAS CITY 2ND: M Sweeney tripled to deep right. M Sweeney scored on
S Kazmir's wild pitch. E Brown walked. R Shealy struck out swinging, E Brown
stole second, E Brown to third on throwing error by catcher S Riggans. A Gordon
struck out swinging. T Pena Jr reached on infield single to shortstop, E Brown
scored. J LaRue singled to center, T Pena Jr to third. E German singled to
left, T Pena Jr scored, J LaRue to second. M Grudzielanek grounded out to
shortstop. (3 Runs, 4 Hits, 1 Error) KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 0.

TAMPA BAY 2ND: G Norton struck out looking. C Pena struck out looking.
D Young struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3,
TAMPA BAY 0.

KANSAS CITY 3RD: M Teahen grounded out to second. M Sweeney singled to
right. E Brown flied out to right. R Shealy struck out swinging. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 0.

TAMPA BAY 3RD: A Iwamura singled to right. S Riggans flied out to right.
B Harris grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, A Iwamura
out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 0.

KANSAS CITY 4TH: A Gordon grounded out to second. T Pena Jr struck
out looking. J LaRue grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 0.

TAMPA BAY 4TH: E Dukes popped out to first. B Upton struck out looking.
C Crawford struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3,
TAMPA BAY 0.

KANSAS CITY 5TH: E German flied out to center. M Grudzielanek doubled to
left. M Teahen lined out to left. M Sweeney grounded out to second. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 0.

TAMPA BAY 5TH: G Norton homered to right. C Pena grounded out to first.
D Young lined out to center. A Iwamura grounded out to second. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 1.

KANSAS CITY 6TH: E Brown singled to right center, E Brown out stretching at
second. R Shealy singled to center. A Gordon struck out looking. T Pena Jr
flied out to center. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 1.

TAMPA BAY 6TH: S Riggans grounded out to shortstop. B Harris struck
out looking. E Dukes popped out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 1.

KANSAS CITY 7TH: J LaRue struck out swinging. E German lined out to
center. M Grudzielanek popped out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 1.

TAMPA BAY 7TH: D DeJesus in center field. M Teahen in right field. E Brown
in left field. B Upton fouled out to first. C Crawford lined out to center.
G Norton flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3,
TAMPA BAY 1.

KANSAS CITY 8TH: B Stokes relieved S Kazmir. M Teahen singled to center.
M Teahen to second on wild pitch by B Stokes. M Sweeney grounded out to third,
M Teahen to third. E Brown doubled to deep center, M Teahen scored. S Camp
relieved B Stokes. R Shealy struck out swinging. A Gordon intentionally
walked. T Pena Jr struck out swinging. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
KANSAS CITY 4, TAMPA BAY 1.

TAMPA BAY 8TH: C Pena lined out to first. D Young continues to bat after
dropped foul ball by first baseman R Shealy. D Young popped out to second.
A Iwamura grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Error) KANSAS CITY 4,
TAMPA BAY 1.

KANSAS CITY 9TH: C Fossum relieved S Camp. J LaRue grounded out to third.
D DeJesus struck out swinging. M Grudzielanek struck out swinging. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 4, TAMPA BAY 1.

TAMPA BAY 9TH: O Dotel relieved B Bannister. D Navarro hit for S Riggans.
D Navarro walked. B Harris walked, D Navarro to second. E Dukes fouled out
to first, D Navarro to third. B Upton struck out looking. C Crawford flied
out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 4, TAMPA BAY 1.</div>

 

Bannister helps Royals end seven-game skid

<h3>KANSAS CITY 4, TAMPA BAY 1</h3>ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- The Kansas City Royalsfinally broke through on a number of fronts against the TampaBay Devil Rays.

Brian Bannister worked eight solid innings as the Royals snappeda seven-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the DevilsRays on Friday.

Kansas City also snapped a seven-game skid here, winning atTropicana Field for the first time September 22, 2004.

The unlikely catalyst was Bannister (1-3), who not only won hisfirst game of the season but earned his first victory sinceApril 16, 2006, when he was with the New York Mets.

The 26-year-old righthander's only mistake was giving up aleadoff home run to Greg Norton in the fifth inning that slicedthe lead to 3-1.

Bannister, who was acquired from the Mets in the offseason,<div class="pre">bounced back in style, retiring the next 12 batters. He</div>allowed just two hits and the one run, did not walk a batter andstruck out a career-high six.

Octavio Dotel overcame two walks in the ninth to get his firstsave of the season.

The Royals jumped on Devil Rays lefthander Scott Kazmir (3-3)for three runs in the top of the second inning.

Mike Sweeney ignited the uprising with a leadoff triple - justthe fifth of his 13-year career - and scored on a wild by byKazmir.

Emil Brown walked, stole second, moved to third on a throwingerror and scored on Tony Pena Jr.'s two-out infield single thatextended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Back-to-back singles by Jason LaRue and Esteban German platedPena to make it 3-0.

Kazmir settled down thereafter but remained in a funk atTropicana Field, falling to 0-3 in his last 11 home startsdespite an ERA under 3.00. He allowed three runs and eight hitsin seven innings, striking out seven and walking one.

The Royals added an insurance run in the eighth off relieverBrian Stokes. Mark Teahen led off with a single to center,moved around on a wild pitch and grounder and scored on Brown'sdouble to center that was badly misplayed by rookie Elijah Dukesfor a 4-1 advantage.

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">(RESENDING -- CORRECTING LINE SCORE)

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

BATTERIES: KAN - BRIAN BANNISTER, OCTAVIO DOTEL (9TH) AND JASON LARUE

TAM - SCOTT KAZMIR, BRIAN STOKES (8TH), SHAWN CAMP
(8TH), CASEY FOSSUM (9TH) AND SHAWN RIGGANS


WP - BRIAN BANNISTER (1-3)
LP - SCOTT KAZMIR (3-3)
SAVE - OCTAVIO DOTEL (1)

HOME RUNS: KAN - NONE

TAM - GREG NORTON (1) OFF BRIAN BANNISTER IN THE 5TH, 0 ON


TIME: 2:31 ATT: 12,032

PROBABLES: KAN - ODALIS PEREZ (2-5, 5.61)
TAM - EDWIN JACKSON (0-6, 7.12)</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KANSAS CITY (4) AT TAMPA BAY (1) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(RESENDING -- CORRECTING TAMPA BAY EIGHTH INNING)

Kansas City Starting Lineups -- E German LF, M Grudzielanek 2B, M Teahen CF,
M Sweeney DH, E Brown RF, R Shealy 1B, A Gordon 3B, T Pena Jr SS, J LaRue C,
B Bannister RHP.

Tampa Bay Starting Lineups -- E Dukes CF, B Upton 2B, C Crawford LF, G Norton DH,
C Pena 1B, D Young RF, A Iwamura 3B, S Riggans C, B Harris SS, S Kazmir LHP.

Umpires -- Ed Hickox (HP), C.B. Bucknor (1B), Joe West (2B), Ed Rapuano (3B).


Gametime Weather: INDOORS.


KANSAS CITY 1ST: E German grounded out to shortstop. M Grudzielanek
grounded out to shortstop. M Teahen struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TAMPA BAY 0.

TAMPA BAY 1ST: E Dukes grounded out to first. B Upton flied out to center.
C Crawford grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0,
TAMPA BAY 0.

KANSAS CITY 2ND: M Sweeney tripled to deep right. M Sweeney scored on
S Kazmir's wild pitch. E Brown walked. R Shealy struck out swinging, E Brown
stole second, E Brown to third on throwing error by catcher S Riggans. A Gordon
struck out swinging. T Pena Jr reached on infield single to shortstop, E Brown
scored. J LaRue singled to center, T Pena Jr to third. E German singled to
left, T Pena Jr scored, J LaRue to second. M Grudzielanek grounded out to
shortstop. (3 Runs, 4 Hits, 1 Error) KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 0.

TAMPA BAY 2ND: G Norton struck out looking. C Pena struck out looking.
D Young struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3,
TAMPA BAY 0.

KANSAS CITY 3RD: M Teahen grounded out to second. M Sweeney singled to
right. E Brown flied out to right. R Shealy struck out swinging. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 0.

TAMPA BAY 3RD: A Iwamura singled to right. S Riggans flied out to right.
B Harris grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, A Iwamura
out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 0.

KANSAS CITY 4TH: A Gordon grounded out to second. T Pena Jr struck
out looking. J LaRue grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 0.

TAMPA BAY 4TH: E Dukes popped out to first. B Upton struck out looking.
C Crawford struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3,
TAMPA BAY 0.

KANSAS CITY 5TH: E German flied out to center. M Grudzielanek doubled to
left. M Teahen lined out to left. M Sweeney grounded out to second. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 0.

TAMPA BAY 5TH: G Norton homered to right. C Pena grounded out to first.
D Young lined out to center. A Iwamura grounded out to second. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 1.

KANSAS CITY 6TH: E Brown singled to right center, E Brown out stretching at
second. R Shealy singled to center. A Gordon struck out looking. T Pena Jr
flied out to center. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 1.

TAMPA BAY 6TH: S Riggans grounded out to shortstop. B Harris struck
out looking. E Dukes popped out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 1.

KANSAS CITY 7TH: J LaRue struck out swinging. E German lined out to
center. M Grudzielanek popped out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
KANSAS CITY 3, TAMPA BAY 1.

TAMPA BAY 7TH: D DeJesus in center field. M Teahen in right field. E Brown
in left field. B Upton fouled out to first. C Crawford lined out to center.
G Norton flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3,
TAMPA BAY 1.

KANSAS CITY 8TH: B Stokes relieved S Kazmir. M Teahen singled to center.
M Teahen to second on wild pitch by B Stokes. M Sweeney grounded out to third,
M Teahen to third. E Brown doubled to deep center, M Teahen scored. S Camp
relieved B Stokes. R Shealy struck out swinging. A Gordon intentionally
walked. T Pena Jr struck out swinging. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
KANSAS CITY 4, TAMPA BAY 1.

TAMPA BAY 8TH: C Pena lined out to first. D Young popped out to second.
A Iwamura grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 4,
TAMPA BAY 1.

KANSAS CITY 9TH: C Fossum relieved S Camp. J LaRue grounded out to third.
D DeJesus struck out swinging. M Grudzielanek struck out swinging. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 4, TAMPA BAY 1.

TAMPA BAY 9TH: O Dotel relieved B Bannister. D Navarro hit for S Riggans.
D Navarro walked. B Harris walked, D Navarro to second. E Dukes fouled out
to first, D Navarro to third. B Upton struck out looking. C Crawford flied
out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 4, TAMPA BAY 1.</div>

 

AL: KANSAS CITY at TAMPA BAY

<div class="pre">KANSAS CITY (4) VS TAMPA BAY (1) - FINAL

KANSAS CITY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
E German lf 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 .274
D DeJesus cf 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .257
M Grudzielanek 2b 5 0 1 0 0 1 2 .268
M Teahen cf-rf 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 .285
M Sweeney dh 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 .242
E Brown rf-lf 3 1 2 1 1 0 1 .211
R Shealy 1b 4 0 1 0 0 3 3 .231
A Gordon 3b 3 0 0 0 1 2 2 .181
T Pena Jr ss 4 1 1 1 0 2 3 .265
J LaRue c 4 0 1 0 0 1 0 .123

Totals 36 4 10 3 2 11 13

BATTING: 2B - M Grudzielanek (15, S Kazmir); E Brown (5, B Stokes). 3B - M
Sweeney (1, S Kazmir). RBI - T Pena Jr (13), E German (13), E Brown (16). 2-out
RBI - T Pena Jr, E German. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - M Sweeney
1, M Grudzielanek 1, T Pena Jr 1. Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: SB - E Brown (6, 2nd base off S Kazmir/S Riggans).

FIELDING: DP: 1 (T Pena Jr-M Grudzielanek-R Shealy).


TAMPA BAY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
E Dukes cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .217
B Upton 2b 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 .318
C Crawford lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .296
G Norton dh 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 .200
C Pena 1b 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .293
D Young rf 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .249
A Iwamura 3b 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .362
S Riggans c 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .100
a-D Navarro ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .188
B Harris ss 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 .305

Totals 28 1 2 1 2 7 7

a-walked for S Riggans in the 9th.

BATTING: HR - G Norton (1, 5th inning off B Bannister 0 on, 0 Out). RBI - G
Norton (2). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - C Crawford 1. GIDP - B
Harris. Team LOB - 2.

FIELDING: E - S Riggans (2, throw). Outfield assists - D Young (E Brown at
2nd base).


----------------------------------------------------
KANSAS CITY - 030 000 010 -- 4
TAMPA BAY - 000 010 000 -- 1
----------------------------------------------------

KANSAS CITY ip h r er bb so hr era
B Bannister (W, 1-3) 8 2 1 1 0 6 1 3.89
O Dotel (S, 1) 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 4.15

TAMPA BAY ip h r er bb so hr era
S Kazmir (L, 3-3) 7 8 3 3 1 7 0 3.95
B Stokes 1/3 2 1 1 0 0 0 6.94
S Camp 2/3 0 0 0 1 2 0 5.14
C Fossum 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 7.74

WP - S Kazmir, B Stokes. IBB - A Gordon (by S Camp). Pitches-strikes: B
Bannister 107-70; O Dotel 17-8; S Kazmir 105-71; B Stokes 19-15; S Camp 14-7; C
Fossum 14-9. Ground balls-fly balls: B Bannister 8-10; O Dotel 0-2; S Kazmir
7-6; B Stokes 1-0; S Camp 0-0; C Fossum 1-0. Batters faced: B Bannister 25; O
Dotel 5; S Kazmir 29; B Stokes 3; S Camp 3; C Fossum 3.

UMPIRES: HP--Ed Hickox. 1B--C.B. Bucknor. 2B--Joe West. 3B--Ed Rapuano.

T--2:31. Att--12,032.
Weather: INDOORS</div>

 

Bannister helps Royals end seven-game skid

<h3>KANSAS CITY 4, TAMPA BAY 1</h3>ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- The Kansas City Royalsfinally broke through on a number of fronts against the TampaBay Devil Rays.

Brian Bannister worked eight solid innings as the Royals snappeda seven-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the DevilsRays on Friday.

Kansas City also snapped a seven-game skid here, winning atTropicana Field for the first time September 22, 2004.

"It was a nice win for us," Kansas City manager Buddy Bell said."It got a little spooky at the end."

The unlikely catalyst was Bannister (1-3), who not only won hisfirst game of the season but earned his first victory sinceApril 16, 2006, when he was with the New York Mets.

The 26-year-old righthander's only mistake was giving up aleadoff home run to Greg Norton in the fifth inning that slicedthe lead to 3-1.

Bannister, who was acquired from the Mets in the offseason,<div class="pre">bounced back in style, retiring the next 12 batters. He</div>allowed just two hits and the one run, did not walk a batter andstruck out a career-high six.

"Besides winning my first game, this feels good," Bannistersaid. "I want to put it in my back pocket and keep it in mindfor future games. Just to get into the eighth inning has been apositive for me. It has been one of my goals."

Octavio Dotel overcame two walks to the first two batters in theninth to get his first save of the season.

The Royals jumped on Devil Rays lefthander Scott Kazmir (3-3)for three runs in the top of the second inning.

Mike Sweeney ignited the uprising with a leadoff triple - justthe fifth of his 13-year career - and scored on a wild by byKazmir.

Emil Brown walked, stole second, moved to third on a throwingerror and scored on Tony Pena Jr.'s two-out infield single thatextended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Back-to-back singles by Jason LaRue and Esteban German platedPena to make it 3-0.

"We didn't come out to play today," Kazmir said. "Not to takeanything away from Bannister, but we're better than that."

Kazmir settled down thereafter but remained in a funk atTropicana Field, falling to 0-3 in his last 11 home startsdespite an ERA under 3.00. He allowed three runs and eight hitsin seven innings, striking out seven and walking one.

"He had one bad inning," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said ofKazmir. "His numbers on the board were good. I thought hisfastball command got better as the game progressed."

The Royals added an insurance run in the eighth off relieverBrian Stokes. Mark Teahen led off with a single to center,moved around on a wild pitch and grounder and scored on Brown'sdouble to center that was badly misplayed by rookie Elijah Dukesfor a 4-1 advantage.