TAMPA (Interstat) — Michael Wacha pitched seven strong innings and the Kansas City Royals held off the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Monday night at George Steinbrenner Field.

Wacha (5-5) allowed one run on six hits while striking out five and walking one. The right-hander recorded his first win since June 6 after losing his previous two decisions. He worked out of a jam in the fifth inning after the Rays cut the lead to 2-1, then retired the final seven batters he faced. Alex Lange earned his sixth save with a perfect ninth inning, striking out one.

The Royals, who entered with a 33-46 record, snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 2-3 on a seven-game road trip. Tampa Bay (43-32) lost for the second time in three games.

Kansas City struck first in the second inning. Michael Massey drew a walk off Rays starter Drew Rasmussen. Lane Thomas followed with a double to left field that scored Massey. Thomas advanced to third on the throw but was stranded when John Rave struck out swinging and Nick Loftin struck out looking. Isaac Collins flied out to center to end the threat.

The Royals added an insurance run in the fifth. Nick Loftin singled to lead off, and Isaac Collins walked. Carter Jensen singled sharply to center, scoring Loftin and moving Collins to second. Maikel Garcia flied out to center, allowing Collins to tag and advance to third while Jensen took second. Jac Caglianone then flied out sharply to center, ending the inning with Kansas City leading 2-0.

Tampa Bay answered immediately in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Richie Palacios singled on a line drive to center. Yandy Díaz then doubled sharply to left, scoring Palacios and cutting the deficit to 2-1. Jonny DeLuca grounded out to second to end the inning.

Rasmussen (6-4) took the loss despite a solid outing. He allowed two runs on four hits over six innings, striking out five and walking two. The Rays bullpen of Cole Sulser, Cam Booser and Craig Kimbrel combined for three scoreless innings. Sulser pitched a perfect seventh with two strikeouts, Booser a perfect eighth, and Kimbrel a perfect ninth. But Tampa Bay’s offense could not solve the Royals’ relief duo of John Schreiber and Alex Lange.

Schreiber pitched a perfect eighth inning, striking out the first two batters he faced. He then walked Jonathan Aranda, but catcher Carter Jensen threw out Victor Mesa Jr. attempting to steal second to end the inning. Lange retired the side in order in the ninth. Junior Caminero flied out to left. Ryan Vilade struck out swinging after a video challenge confirmed the call on the field. Chandler Simpson grounded out to first to end the game.

The Rays threatened in the seventh against Wacha. Chandler Simpson singled with one out, and Ben Williamson grounded out, moving Simpson to second. But Nick Fortes struck out swinging, and Richie Palacios popped out in foul territory to end the inning.

Defensively, the Royals turned a key double play in the first inning. After Yandy Díaz walked and Jonathan Aranda singled, Junior Caminero grounded into a 1-4-3 double play started by Wacha. Shortstop Maikel Garcia made several strong plays in the field, including a groundout to end the second inning.

For the Royals, Thomas drove in the game’s first run. Garcia had a double in the first inning but was left stranded. Maikel Garcia also doubled in the first inning but was stranded. For the Rays, Simpson finished with two hits, including a double. Díaz drove in the lone run.

Kansas City managed four hits in the game, while Tampa Bay collected six. Neither team hit a home run.

Attendance was 11,298. The game lasted 2 hours, 13 minutes.

The victory was only Kansas City’s third in its last 10 games. The Royals had lost two straight at home to St. Louis over the weekend, including a 12-10 slugfest Sunday that saw 22 runs combined. Before that, Kansas City took two of three from Washington. The Royals have struggled to score runs, managing two or fewer in five of their last seven games.

Tampa Bay had taken two of three from Washington over the weekend, winning 4-3 on Sunday. The Rays entered Monday in a tight race in the American League East.

Wacha improved his record despite a rough stretch. In his previous two starts, he allowed seven earned runs over 13 innings, taking losses to Texas and Washington on consecutive outings. His Monday start marked his second quality start in his last three appearances.

Rasmussen had been effective in his recent starts. He entered Monday with a 6-3 record and had allowed three earned runs or fewer in five of his previous six outings. He struck out five and walked two in the loss.

The series continues Tuesday with the Royals facing the Rays again. Kansas City then travels to Chicago for a weekend series against the White Sox, while Tampa Bay hosts Arizona. The two teams will meet again next week in Kansas City for a three-game series beginning June 30.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Tampa Bay 5, Kansas City 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Tampa Bay with a 57.60 percent probability to win. Tampa Bay had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 3 went over the over/under line of 7.5.