With around 40 members of his family and friends in attendance, Josh Fleming worked into the sixth inning, and Kevin Kiermaier drove in his first two runs of the season as the Tampa Bay Rays earned their fourth consecutive win with a 4-1 win over the Kansas City Royals Monday at Kauffman Stadium.
“I didn’t really hear them when I was throwing, but once I got taken out I heard a very very big cheer, yelling from all different directions,” Fleming said afterwards. “It was awesome.”
Having all that support helped keep the left-hander warm and loose on a cold Kansas City evening, as game time temperature was 45 degrees and dropped as the evening went on.
“I guess that helps a little bit, having all my friends and family there tonight,” Fleming said. “But I was able to get into a groove pretty quickly, got a rhythm going, and again just a lot of ground balls which is exactly what I wanted, and in this cold weather I know it’s difficult to hit so I just kept the ball down as much as I could and let them put it on the ground.”
The strategy worked for Fleming and his defense, as he threw no more than 17 pitches in any inning (the first), and ended up with nine ground ball outs.
Royals starter Danny Duffy was just as strong as Fleming early, allowing just one hit through the first four innings, but it would be Kansas City’s defense that cracked because of the weather in the fifth. Joey Wendle singled to center with two outs, then Willy Adames lifted a pop fly that glanced off the thumb of Carlos Santana’s glove, allowing Wendle to race around the bases and score the first run of the game.
Kiermaier then singled in Adames to make it 2-0.
The contest remained 2-0 until the seventh, when reliever Jake Brentz started the inning by walking Wendle and giving up a base hit to Adames. Kiermaier then grounded into what could have been a routine double play, but the ball skipped off Whit Merrifield’s glove into center field, allowing Wendle to make it 3-0.
The Rays center fielder added another RBI in the ninth on a single that scored Adames, who singled, stole second base and took third on an error by Salvador Perez.
Kansas City’s only run came in the bottom of the ninth, when Jorge Soler’s sacrifice fly brought in Perez.
Tampa Bay will look to extend their winning streak to five games Tuesday and earn another series victory with a win in the middle game of the series. Rich Hill (1-0, 7.53 ERA) will get the start, taking on Brad Keller (1-1, 9.58 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
