TAMPA, Fla. (Interstat) — Michael Wacha pitched seven innings of six-hit ball, allowing one run and striking out five, as the Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Monday at George Steinbrenner Field. Wacha improved to 5-5, and Alex Lange earned his sixth save with a scoreless ninth inning. Drew Rasmussen took the loss, giving up two runs on four hits over six innings to fall to 6-4.

Kansas City took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Lane Thomas’ RBI double. The Royals added a run in the fifth on Carter Jensen’s run-scoring single. Tampa Bay answered in the bottom of the fifth when Yandy Díaz drove in Richie Palacios with a double.

The Royals had four hits; the Rays had six. Attendance was 11,298. The game lasted 2 hours, 13 minutes. Kansas City improved to 33-46, while Tampa Bay dropped to 43-32.