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Friday, Sep. 1 7:15pm ET
Meadows takes no-hitter to sixth | |||||
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RECAP
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GAME LOG
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Brian Meadows' no-hit bid almost became a loss. Meadows did not allow a hit until the sixth inning and Jermaine Dye hit a grand slam and knocked in five runs as the Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 9-5 Friday night. "Crazy things happen," said Meadows, who wound up allowing five runs and eight hits in 6 2-3 innings. "Anyway you look at it, I guess it's victory, so that's good." John Flaherty, who broke Pedro Martinez's no-hit bid for Boston leading off the bottom of the ninth Tuesday, ended Meadows' attempt with a line single to left with one out in the sixth. Dye hit his third career grand slam in the fourth inning and added an RBI double during a two-run fifth. He also singled twice. "He had a no-hitter going for five innings and he seemed to hit the wall a little bit and probably got a little tired," Dye said. "His ball started hanging up there in the zone, and when you do that, guys at this level are going to whack it around somewhat." Meadows (3-2) retired the first 12 batters before walking Fred McGriff on a 3-1 pitch to open the fifth. "No-hitters are very hard to come," Meadows said. "I'll be the first to tell you, when I walk out on the mound, I never expect to throw a no-hitter. I don't really care for no-hitters ... I just want to win." The right-hander left during a four-run seventh inning. "It happens quick," Royals manager Tony Muser said. "In the American League, you can't take anything for granted. You kind of always expect the unexpected. But he pitched real good baseball. It just feel apart for him." Tampa Bay loaded the bases with two outs. After run-scoring singles by Flaherty and pinch-hitter Russ Johnson, Gerald Williams got the Devil Rays within 7-5 on his two-run double. Scott Mullen, who made his major league debut Thursday, ended the threat when got Steve Cox to pop out. "We dug to deep a hole," Tampa Bay manager Larry Rothschild said. "We had a chance to get back in it, which is all you can ask for. Some days you may get that final hit, but it's tough to do when you dig that big of a hole." The Royals loaded the bases on three singles to start the fourth inning. Dye was given the green light on a 3-0 pitch hit the ball into the left-field seats off Ryan Rupe (5-6) for his 32nd homer. "I looked for a pitch middle in to drive," Dye said. "On 3-0, you don't want to get cheated. You want to try and drive the ball hard, if not out of the park." Rupe had faced the minimum of nine hitters through three. "I was pitching well and in the fourth it just unraveled ... absolutely unraveled," Rupe said. "It was a bad game." Dye has two grand slams off Rupe this season. The other came April 26 at Kansas City. He moved within four homers of tying Steve Balboni's single-season club mark of 36, set in 1985. Kansas City went up 6-0 in the fifth inning when Wilson Delgado scored on second baseman Bobby Smith's throwing error and a RBI double by Dye. Dye is 8-for-14 with three homers against Rupe. "He owns me," Rupe said. "Ahead in the count. Behind in the count. Whatever it is, he seems to hit it. I guess everyone has their guy. I don't know what to throw him." Rupe allowed six runs and eight hits in 4 2-3 innings. He has dropped two straight after recording five consecutive victories. After Williams' sacrifice fly in the sixth got the Devil Rays with 6-1, Kansas City got the run back in the seventh on Mike Sweeney's fielder's choice. Sweeney has 123 RBIs. He is 10 away from tying Hal McRae's team-record established in 1982. Sweeney hit a solo homer in the ninth, his 24th of the year. Gregg Zaun had a RBI single in the eighth, putting the Royals up 8-5 Tampa Bay had won the past five meetings between the teams. The Royals victory was just their fourth in the past 17 contests against the Devil Rays. Game notesThe game lasted 2 hours, 50 minutes, the eighth straight Tampa Bay contest under three hours. ... The Devil Rays have gone a season-long five games without a homer. The Royals entered with a major league-leading 203 homers allowed. ... McGriff has six extra base hits in his last 35 games. ... Kansas City OF Johnny Damon has a hit in 25 of his past 26 games. ... Vaughn, who is limited to DH duties by an ailing right shoulder, was 0-for-4 and has just eight hits in his past 65 at-bats. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Kansas City Clubhouse Tampa Bay Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 6 Seattle 2
Kansas City 9
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