Jeff Niemann’s pitching helps Tampa Bay Rays defeat Kansas City Royals 4-1 - MLB Update
Tampa Bay Rays’ starter, Jeff Niemann had a notable day with the ball as he gifted only one earned run and pitched just over six innings with an ERA of 3.43 in the Rays’ 4-1 victory against Kansas City Royals at Tropicana Field, Florida on August 11.
Royals got off to a decent start and led off with 1-0 by contributing a single run in first inning. Eric Hosmer was grounded out towards second base and Alex Gordon added one run for Royals. Miguel Cabrera moved to third base at the end of first inning.
The batters were score-less in front of the amazing throws of the pitchers during second inning.
On the other side, Rays opened their scoring account by taking two runs and went ahead 2-1 at the bottom of third inning. Evan Longoria and Johnny Damon both scored their respective run for Rays when Ben Zobrist drove a triple-run shot towards deep centre-field.
In fourth inning, Sean Rodriguez walked but at third base, Kelly Shoppach grounded out and Elliot Johnson struck-out swinging.
In fifth inning, Rays got a 3-1 lead when Longoria hit a sacrifice fly to centre-field and Desmond Jennings posted one run. The pitchers did not surrender any run in the sixth and seventh inning as the batters were unable to play confident shots. Niemann
permitted only one run, nine hits and two walks including two strike-outs on his 103 pitches.
Speaking to reporters, Niemann said, “Things weren't coming as easily as they have been the past few games. You're going to have starts when you're not as sharp.”
Rays’ manager Joe Maddon said, “Playing in our division is always a gas, and going up there to do it makes it even more fun. Another good test for us. We're trying to climb back in this thing one step at a time. It's up to us.”
During the eighth inning, Zobrist contributed the final run for the Rays and gave them a 4-1 lead when Rodriguez singled off centre-field. Casey Kotchman moved towards second base to end the eighth inning. Royals’ batters failed to score runs at the top
of ninth inning as Alcides Escobar grounded out to the pitcher while Gordon and Cabrera both were struck-out.
As a result, Rays swept the Royals 4-0 in the four-game series played at Tropicana Field.
Tags: