ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Rays lost a combined no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals when Carter Jensen hit a two-run homer off Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning Thursday.
Opener Casey Legumina retired all four batters he faced through 1â…“ innings before Ian Seymour took over in the second. Seymour struck out seven batters. Kimbrel started the ninth and allowed a walk to Starling Marte before Jensen went deep with one out.
Tampa Bay was leading Kansas City 13-0 to start the ninth behind a franchise record-tying three home runs by Junior Caminero, who drove in six runs in the 13-2 win.
The Rays retired the first 16 batters they faced before Marte drew a one-out walk on a full count in the top of the sixth before Seymour retired Tyler Tolbert and Jensen to end the inning.
Left fielder Chandler Simpson made a running catch near the foul pole to track down a fly ball off the bat of Salvador Perez in the fifth to keep the perfect game intact. Simpson also caught a hard line drive off the bat of Isaac Collins to end the eighth.
The Rays have never thrown a perfect game in franchise history. Matt Garza has the only no-hitter in Tampa Bay history on July 26, 2010, against the Detroit Tigers.
This would have been the second no-hitter in the majors this year, following the Astros' combined no-hitter against the Rangers on May 25.
Kimbrel himself finished a combined no-hitter for the Chicago Cubs against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 24, 2021, at Dodger Stadium.
Tampa Bay has been no-hit six times in franchise history, the most recent on May 10, 2022, against the Angels' Reid Detmers. The last time Kansas City was no-hit was May 19, 2008, against Boston's Jon Lester.
