KANSAS CITY (Interstat) — Shane McClanahan pitched six scoreless innings and Cedric Mullins homered as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-0 on Wednesday night before a crowd of 13,798 at Kauffman Stadium.

McClanahan allowed three hits, struck out four and walked none to improve to 7-5. The left-hander worked efficiently, throwing 63 of his 90 pitches for strikes, and faced only one serious threat. In the third inning, a throwing error by McClanahan allowed Lane Thomas to reach base, but McClanahan induced a line out from Bobby Witt Jr. to end the inning.

The Rays scored all the runs they would need in the first inning off Royals starter Seth Lugo. Jonathan Aranda singled with one out, and Junior Caminero followed by launching his 24th home run of the season to left field, a two-run shot that gave Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead. Caminero finished 1-for-4 with two RBIs.

Tampa Bay added a run in the sixth inning when Mullins led off with a home run to right field, his ninth of the season. Mullins went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and also scored on a single in the eighth inning.

The Rays extended their lead to 4-0 in the eighth inning off reliever Jose Cuas. Victor Mesa Jr. singled and advanced to second on a groundout. Mullins then singled to right field, driving in Mesa Jr. before being thrown out attempting to advance to second base.

Kevin Kelly earned his fourth save of the season, working 1 1/3 innings of one-hit relief. He struck out one and induced a double play to escape a jam in the eighth inning after a walk and a single put runners on first and second with one out. Kelly got Lane Thomas swinging and Bobby Witt Jr. to ground out.

Lugo took the loss, falling to 3-6. He pitched six innings, allowing three runs on nine hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. Lugo struggled early, giving up the first-inning home run, but settled in to retire 10 of the next 12 batters after the blast.

Cuas pitched two innings in relief, allowing one run on two hits with three strikeouts. Matt Strahm pitched a scoreless eighth inning, striking out two.

The Royals managed only six hits against four Rays pitchers. Jac Caglianone had two of them, both singles. Bobby Witt Jr. singled in the first inning, but Kansas City went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and grounded into three double plays.

Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson went 2-for-4 with a double. Taylor Walls had two hits, including a double, and scored on Mullins’ home run. The Rays finished with 11 hits overall.

The game was completed in 2 hours, 11 minutes, the quickest game of the series.

Tampa Bay improved to 50-33, maintaining its hold on first place in the American League East. Kansas City fell to 35-52, last in the AL Central.

The victory gave the Rays a split of the first two games of this four-game series. Tampa Bay won the opener Tuesday 10-4. The teams meet again Thursday afternoon before the Rays travel to Houston for a weekend series against the Astros. Kansas City returns home after the series to host Philadelphia.

McClanahan’s performance was especially effective given his previous outing against the same Royals lineup. On June 23, he allowed two earned runs over six innings in a 12-5 loss. This time, he did not allow a run while throwing first-pitch strikes to 14 of the 21 batters he faced.

The game’s defining moment came in the first inning when Caminero connected off Lugo. Aranda had singled on a sharp line drive to center field, bringing Caminero to the plate. The third baseman drove a 1-1 fastball over the left-field wall, giving the Rays a lead they never relinquished.

Tampa Bay’s defense backed McClanahan with three double plays, two turned by Caminero at third base. In the second inning, Caminero started a double play to erase Salvador Perez after a single. He started another in the fourth inning with Starling Marte on first base. Kelly started a double play in the ninth inning with a runner on third to end the game.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 7-5 final score in favor of Tampa Bay. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Rays a 53.70 percent probability to win. Tampa Bay closed as a -1.5 run favorite on the spread. The total of 4 runs went under the over/under line of 10 set by oddsmakers.