Royals' Jordan Lyles looks to crack win column vs. Rays

Kansas City Royals right-hander Jordan Lyles is chasing an elusive number to mark down on the left side of his pitching record.

His teammates already have shown it can be done in their four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Lyles will take the mound Saturday afternoon with a 2023 pitching record that reads 0-11, leaving him hoping for that first win as June nears its conclusion.

That will be two days after his teammates rallied to a 6-5 win over the team with the best record in baseball. To boot, it came on the Rays' home field, where they sport a 33-9 record.

June has been Lyles' best month so far this season. While the 32-year-old currently holds a 6.72 ERA over his 15 total starts, he is 0-2 with a 5.25 ERA over his four outings this month.

His start against the Colorado Rockies on June 2 looked good enough to deserve his first win of the season. He allowed one run on two hits and struck out eight over five innings.

Lyles was in line for the win with his team leading 2-1, but the visiting Rockies posted six runs against the bullpen in the eighth inning for a 7-2 victory.

First-year Royals manager Matt Quatraro said Lyles is not distracted by the winless streak, which stretches to his final start of 2022 with the Baltimore Orioles, a 2-1 victory over the New York Yankees on Sept. 30.

"He doesn't let that bother him -- he's going to do his thing," Quatraro said after the Colorado start. "He threw several really good changeups today. His velo was up, and I thought he worked the ball up and down in the zone. I thought it was a really positive outing."

Lyles is 1-3 with a 5.35 ERA in seven career appearances (six starts) vs. the Rays.

Tampa Bay tied a season high with 17 hits in Friday's 11-3 rout of Kansas City, squaring the series at one win apiece. Six different batters had multi-hit performances for the Rays.

Jose Siri recorded season-high totals in hits (three) and RBIs (four). Starting pitcher Zach Eflin improved to 9-3 overall and 8-0 at home.

"Good win, good to see the bats break out," Rays manager Kevin Cash said after his squad tallied its most runs since an 11-10 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 28. "Look, it's been a little bit of a grind here lately, finding ways to win games. ... But we were able to find a way to separate it and put some runs on the board."

Tampa Bay has lost four of its past six games.

Right-hander Yonny Chirinos (3-2, 2.72 ERA) is expected to take the mound Saturday for the Rays to make his 11th appearance of the season and fourth start.

Fully recovered from 2020's Tommy John surgery, Chirinos is 2-0 with a 4.32 ERA against the Royals in three games (one start).

Luke Raley (.276 batting average, 12 homers, 27 RBIs) received good news after being hit on the hand Thursday by a pitch from Jose Cuas. Raley's X-rays were negative.