Royals finally win a Jordan Lyles start, defeat Rays 9-4

After 15 tries, the Royals finally won a game started by Jordan Lyles, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 9-4 on Saturday afternoon, giving him his first win of the year.

The start got off to a shaky start, when Wander Franco homered in his first at-bat since being benched for two games. The Rays added another first inning run on a Josh Lowe double to make it 2-0. Things didn’t get any better in the second when the Rays plated two more run to make it 4-0.

But the Royals chipped away at that lead until a geyser of runs began to flow. Drew Waters continued his hot hitting in Tampa Bay with a solo home run in the third to put the Royals on the board. Nicky Lopez singled and Freddy Fermin walked, with both coming home to score on productive outs by Nick Pratto and Bobby Witt Jr.

The Royals exploded in the fourth for four runs off Rays starter Yonny Chirinos. Edward Olivares and Drew Waters hit back-to-back singles. With two outs, Freddy Fermin pulled a Chirinos offering down the left field line for a three-run blast, his fourth of the year.

Nick Pratto and Bobby Witt Jr. hit back-to-back doubles to plate another run and make it 7-4 Royals in the fourth. Pratto drove home another run in the sixth on a grounder to plate Olivares. Meanwhile, Lyles settled down after a shaky start and seemed to get stronger as the game went on. He would eventually go six innings with two strikeouts and one walk, exiting after just 75 pitches.

Edward Olivares would put the cherry on top with a solo home run in the eighth, his third hit of the day, and his sixth dinger of the season. Carlos Hernandez and Nick Wittgren combined for three scoreless innings to give the Royals the 9-4 win.

The Royals have a chance to win a road series against the best team in the league tomorrow afternoon with Daniel Lynch scheduled to face Tyler Glasnow at 12:40 CT.