CINCINNATI (Interstat) — Lane Thomas hit a first-inning grand slam and finished with four RBIs to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 9-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night at Great American Ball Park.

Thomas, who entered the game mired in a 3-for-11 slump over his previous four contests, went 3 for 5 with a home run, a double and four runs batted in. His grand slam in the top of the first inning gave the Royals a 4-0 lead and set the tone for an evening in which Kansas City pounded out 13 hits while its pitching staff held the Reds to six hits.

The Royals improved to 23-37 with the win. The Reds dropped to 30-29.

Kansas City struck quickly against Reds starter Brandon Leibrandt. Carter Jensen drew a leadoff walk, Bobby Witt Jr. was hit by a pitch and Jac Caglianone walked to load the bases with one out. After Isaac Collins struck out, Thomas launched a 1-0 pitch over the left-center-field wall for his second home run of the season, clearing the bases and giving the Royals a 4-0 advantage.

Cincinnati answered in the bottom of the first when JJ Bleday led off with a solo home run to right-center field, his 10th of the season, cutting the deficit to 4-1. But Reds hitters could not sustain the momentum against Royals starter Luinder Avila.

Avila, who entered with a 1-2 record, pitched five innings, allowing two hits and one earned run while striking out five. He walked three but worked out of trouble, including a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning when he induced a force out and then struck out Edwin Arroyo to end the threat.

The Royals extended their lead in the fifth inning. Witt Jr. led off with a double, and two batters later Caglianone hit his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot to center field that made it 6-1. Caglianone finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a walk.

Kansas City added a run in the sixth. With one out, Nick Loftin walked and advanced to third on a single by Vinnie Pasquantino. Loftin scored on a sacrifice fly from Jensen, making it 7-1.

Thomas sparked another rally in the seventh with a groundout, but Michael Massey followed with his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot to right-center field that increased the lead to 8-1.

The Royals tacked on another run in the ninth. Thomas singled, Massey singled, and Loftin drove in Thomas with a sacrifice fly to center, extending the margin to 9-1.

Cincinnati mounted a brief threat in the bottom of the ninth against Royals reliever Eli Morgan. Arroyo singled, Matt McLain doubled to left-center to score Arroyo, and Will Benson walked, putting runners on first and second with two outs. But Morgan struck out Bleday swinging to end the game.

Morgan allowed two hits and one earned run while striking out three in one inning of work. The Royals bullpen combined for four innings of relief, with Alex Lange, Mason Black and John Schreiber each tossing a scoreless frame. Lange struck out two, Black struck out one and Schreiber struck out one.

For the Reds, Bleday finished 1 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. McLain went 1 for 4 with a double and an RBI.

Leibrandt took the loss, now 0-1, after allowing 10 hits and five earned runs over six innings. He struck out three and walked two. Lyon Richardson was charged with the loss as the pitcher of record when Cincinnati fell behind, though Richardson did not appear in the game; the official scoring rule credits the starting pitcher with the loss if his team never ties or leads after his departure, and Leibrandt was the starter who allowed the runs that put Kansas City ahead to stay.

Caleb Ferguson pitched two scoreless innings of relief for the Reds, allowing two hits and striking out two.

The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Royals, who had been swept in a three-game series at Texas over the weekend. Kansas City had lost 17 of its previous 20 games entering Monday.

Cincinnati had won two straight, including a 6-4 win over Atlanta on Sunday.

The game, played before an announced crowd of 19,409, lasted 2 hours, 43 minutes.

The Royals and Reds meet again Tuesday and Wednesday in the second and third games of this three-game series. Kansas City then travels to Minnesota for a four-game set starting Thursday. Cincinnati heads to St. Louis for a three-game series beginning Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Cincinnati 4, Kansas City 2. Interstat’s ELO system gave Cincinnati a 55.70 percent probability to win. The Reds were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 11 went under the over-under line of 9.