By MATT PIKE
John Rave hit a two-run home run, Michael Massey added a solo shot and the Kansas City Royals beat the Houston Astros 5-2 at Daikin Park.
The loss for Houston dropped the Astros into a first-place tie with the Texas Rangers in the Amerian League West. Despite the win, the Royals have been officially eliminated from playoff contention after the Cleveland Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 earlier in the day.
Rave opened the scoring in the fourth inning with his sixth home run of the season off Astros starter Cristian Javier, who dropped to 2-6 on the season, the home run bringing Massey in to score after he led off the inning with a single. The Royals extended their lead in the eighth with a three run inning, led off by the solo home run from Massey.
With two outs, Josh Rojas and Isaac Collins reached on back-to-back walks and a double from Carter Jensen capped the scoring in the inning, driving in Rojas with Collins also scoring on a throwing error by Astros right fielder Jorge Barrosa. Daniel Lynch IV earned the win, improving to 6-5 on the season, allowing two hits and striking out three in five scoreless innings while walking one.
Nate Pearson allowed a run to score in the bottom of the eighth for the Astros, Isaac Paredes driving in Barrosa with a sacrifice fly, and in the ninth inning the final run scored off Steven Cruz as Yainer Diaz hit his 12th home run of the season. At the plate, for the Royals, Massey was 3-for-5 with a home run, an RBI, and two runs scored. Five other Royals had one hit each on the night, including Rave who was 1-for-4 with the home run and two RBIs.
Kansas City and Houston wrap up their series tomorrow. Seth Lugo (7-8, 4.99 ERA, 126Ks) starts for the Royals while the Astros have not announced a starter. First pitch is at 6:15pm, pregame will air at 5:30pm on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.