KANSAS CITY (Interstat) — The Tampa Bay Rays erupted for six runs in the third inning and never looked back, defeating the Kansas City Royals 10-4 on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.

The win before a crowd of 15,014 moved the Rays to 49-33 and handed the Royals their 51st loss against 35 wins. Tampa Bay has now won three of its last four games and holds a 9-5 edge over Kansas City in the season series, including three straight victories after splitting a four-game set at home last week.

The decisive inning came in the top of the third, with the Rays trailing 1-0 after Carter Jensen’s solo home run in the first. Nick Fortes led off with a bunt single that became a double after a throwing error by third baseman Nick Loftin. Yandy Diaz walked, and Jonathan Aranda singled to right-center, scoring Fortes. The next batter, Junior Caminero, launched his 23rd home run of the season to left-center field, bringing home Diaz and Aranda for a 4-1 lead.

Ryan Vilade followed with his sixth home run, a solo shot to left-center, and the Rays kept the pressure on. Jonny DeLuca singled, Chandler Simpson singled, and Ben Williamson drove in DeLuca with a line-drive single to center. By the time the inning ended, Tampa Bay had sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs on six hits.

The Royals answered in the bottom half when Bobby Witt Jr. belted his 11th home run, a two-run shot to left-center that cut the deficit to 6-3. Witt finished 3 for 4 with two home runs and three RBIs, accounting for all of Kansas City’s runs. He added his 12th homer in the eighth inning.

Tampa Bay added two runs in the fifth on a two-run single by Fortes and two more in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk by Taylor Walls. The Rays benefited from 11 hits and eight walks, with five different batters driving in runs.

Griffin Jax pitched five innings, allowing three runs on four hits while striking out four, to earn his fourth win against five losses. Noah Cameron took the loss, surrendering six runs on five hits in two-plus innings, falling to 4-6.

Royals reliever Beck Way threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out one. Salvador Perez went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts, and Nick Loftin and John Rave each went 0 for 3. Connor Seabold gave up an earned run in two-thirds of an inning. Lucas Erceg logged a scoreless inning, while Eric Cerantola allowed two earned runs in 1 1/3 innings. Michael Massey was 0 for 3, and Jac Caglianone went 0 for 4.

The game lasted 2 hours, 43 minutes. Interstat’s game simulator projected a 7-5 Rays victory. Interstat’s ELO system gave Tampa Bay a 53.70 percent probability to win. The Rays were installed as pregame favorites with a spread of minus 1.5. The combined total of 14 runs went under the over-under line of 10.5.