Royals Edge Devil Rays

The Kansas City Royals proved again they can win dramatically at home.

On the heels of an 0-9 road trip, the Royals returned to Kansas City on Tuesday night and scored the winning run on pitcher Albie Lopez's ninth-inning throwing error, giving them a 7-6 victory over Tampa Bay. It was the fifth straight home game the Royals scored in their final at bat to win.

"When you have a tough losing streak, I don't know what you call it, but it's heavy," Kansas City manager Tony Muser said.

With runners on first and second and one out in a 6-6 game, Mark Quinn hit a slow roller back to the mound. Perfect execution could have resulted in a double play, but Lopez (1-1) threw the ball low and second baseman Miguel Cairo couldn't handle it, allowing Carlos Beltran to score from second.

Dan Reichert (1-0), who pitched 3 2-3 innings of relief, picked up the win. The only hit he allowed was Greg Vaughn's homer in the ninth that tied it.

"I made one bad pitch and it got hit hard. The guys did a good job of coming back," Reichert said. "I thought a slider would be the right pitch, but I left it up in the zone. Vaughn's a great hitter."

Johnny Damon's sacrifice fly scored pinch-runner Luis Ordaz in the bottom of the eighth and gave the Royals a 6-5 lead, breaking a streak of 88 innings that the Royals had not led at the end of an inning.

"Our guys just didn't give up," Muser said. "They just kept battling. Jermaine Dye had a great night that kept us in the game. Joe Randa had a big home run to tie the game."

The Royals came back from a 5-1 deficit.

"You have to give credit to the fans. There's a lot of energy in the ballpark. Nobody quit, including the fans," Muser said. "They were loud and boisterous. They're a big part of this."

"It's been crazy," Dye said of the last-second victories. "I don't know what it is. It seems like a totally different team than on the road trip."

While Muser was enjoying the nerve-wracking finish, his counterpart was frustrated. "It wasn't just that play at the end of the game," Tampa Bay manager Larry Rothschild said. "We had plenty of chances. That wouldn't have come into play if we had done what we were capable of doing."

"It's time to get some big hits and drive in some runs. We've got to be able to find ways to win games. That's all there is to it."

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