Rays' Shane Baz Pitches Career-Best Eight Scoreless in Third Road Sweep

Shane Baz delivered a career-best performance by pitching eight scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and only one walk, leading the Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals and completing a three-game sweep. Baz retired 19 consecutive batters during his dominant outing, throwing 69 strikes out of 97 pitches, marking the longest start of his major-league career. Offensively, the Rays were powered by back-to-back homers from Brandon Lowe and Junior Caminero, along with key hits from Jacob Lowe and Jake Mangum, who contributed a run-scoring triple. The Rays have won five of their last six games, moving 11 games above .500 and positioning themselves just half a game behind the AL East-leading New York Yankees. Kansas City, meanwhile, has struggled recently, scoring only one run across the three losses to Tampa Bay and posting a poor 14-27 record since a strong start to the season. Tampa Bay’s pitching staff has been exceptional, recording two shutouts in less than 24 hours and allowing just one run in the three-game series against the Royals.