Jordan Lyles can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
On Saturday, the Royals starting pitcher finally ended a historic losing streak involving games that he’s started this season.
The Royals, a +210 underdog at SI Sportsbook, came from behind to beat Tampa Bay by a score of 9–4. In the process, the club ended a string of 15 consecutive losses in games started by Lyles, the longest such streak in American League or National League history.
The Rays, the team with the best record in the majors (53–27), jumped out to a 4–0 lead after the second inning. However, the AL East power surrendered seven runs over the next two innings to the Royals.
Kansas City would never look back after taking the 7–4 lead, keeping Major League Baseball’s second-highest scoring club (448 runs scored) off the board for the final seven innings of the game.
Lyles, who earned his first victory of the season, now stands at 1–11 with a 6.68 ERA through 16 starts on the season.
After losing in Jordan Lyles' first 15 starts of the season, the Royals won today with Lyles on the bump against the Rays pic.twitter.com/04hp1ZdazH
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 24, 2023
The Royals, who own the second-worst record (22–55) in the majors, have now won four of their last 10 games and possess a chance to win the series against Tampa Bay tomorrow when Daniel Lynch (1–3; 4.45 ERA) takes the bump against Tyler Glasnow (2–1; 4.97 ERA).
