Cash to “lose a little sleep” after Rays’ loss to Royals

Manager Kevin Cash said the Rays don’t expect Duffy to have any issues adjusting “whatsoever” back to short, and they are thrilled with the well-rounded work he does at the plate, showing off his flat, line drive-producing swing during a Wednesday batting practice session. The Rays hit for the cycle in their first seven at-bats Wednesday – double, single, home run, triple – so almost anything from Kennedy will be a step in the right direction.

It was the second straight loss for the Rays (42-63) to the defending World Series champions, who have won 12 of their past 13 against the Rays.

Moore to the San Francisco Giants on Monday, so reliever Matt Andriese was shifted back from the bullpen to take his start.

Andriese did what he has done for much of this season – pitch well.

His last start, however, was what the Rays are looking for – six innings, four hits and two runs in a victory over the Yankees.

Kansas City Royals starter Ian Kennedy pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Other than that, he has not pitched more than three innings in any of his 10 relief outings, so he was on a tight pitch count.

It isn’t hard to figure out why the Tampa Bay Rays aren’t winning. Another converted starter in the bullpen, Erasmo Ramirez, followed with two scoreless innings of relief. But Joakim Soria retired the next three in order, with two groundouts and a strikeout of pinch-hitter Tim Beckham to close out the inning.

That will look to change tonight when Yordano Ventura gets the ball for the Royals. Tampa Bay CF Kevin Kiermaier is 4-for-8 with a homer, three runs scored and three RBIs in the last two games.3.

CUBS 3, MARLINS 2 Jason Hammel threw six scoreless innings, Dexter Fowler had three hits and the Chicago Cubs beat Miami ace Jose Fernandez and the Marlins.

“When I think about the transition I made to third, the toughest thing was mentally slowing myself down because balls get on you so much more quickly at third base”, Duffy said. “I was locating them well and mixing them in and out, throwing a lot of strikes”.

Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Brad Miller will likely make a transition to first base in the next few days after recently acquired infielder Matt Duffy returns from a rehab assignment.

Forsythe had three hits for the Rays, who left 11 on base and went 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position. Kansas City took a 1-0 lead in the first with a two-out single from Lorenzo Cain and an RBI single from Eric Hosmer.NOTES: After making three deals at the trade deadline and playing two men down Monday, the Rays got back to 25 players, recalling UTIL Taylor Motter and RHP Ryan Garton from Triple-A Durham.