Kansas City Beats Tampa Bay 9-7 in a Game Featuring Two Inside the Park Home Runs

The Kansas City Royals and Tampa Bay Rays each hit an inside the park home run, the first time opposing teams have done that in the same games since 1997, as the American League Central leading Royals beat the Rays 9-7 on July 8th in Kansas City.

Logan Forsythe of the Rays hit his inside the park home run in the top of the fourth, when Kansas City left fielder Alex Gordon went down with a strained groin on the play. The injury is significant, and Gordon is expected to miss eight weeks. He is hitting .279 with 11 homers and 39 RBIs, but his Gold Glove defense will also be missed.

Jarrod Dyson replaced Gordon, and filled in well. He threw out a runner at the plate and hit a two run inside the park home run in the bottom of the sixth to give the Royals a 9-3 lead. The Rays scored one in the seventh and three in the ninth, but came up short. The Royals (49-33) maintained their 4 ½ game in lead in the Central while Tampa Bay fell a game below .500 at 43-44. The Rays are still just four games out in the A.L. East.