ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A lack of offense derailed David Price’s bid to become the major league’s first 17-game winner this season.
Price allowed three hits over eight shutout innings in the Tampa Bay Rays’ 1-0, 10-inning loss to the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.
Price struck out eight. It was the second time this month Price pitched eight shutout innings — Baltimore beat the Rays 1-0 in 10 innings on Aug. 5 — without getting a win to show for it.
“David was fantastic,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “Command of all his pitches.”
Price, who gave up seven earned runs to the New York Mets in his most recent loss on June 13, has given up only 15 runs in 12 starts since. Those 12 starts include a franchise-record eight straight wins and a 1.56 ERA, dropping his major league-leading ERA to 2.28.
Eric Hosmer’s two-out single in the 10th inning drove in the only run of a classic pitchers’ duel between price and the Royals’ Luke Hochevar.
“Hochevar threw the ball extremely well again against us,” Price said. “It was a 1-0 ballgame. We played well. They played well. Just didn’t hit enough. We’ve been swinging the bats extremely well the last two week, and were going to come back tomorrow and swing well again.”
The run off Joel Peralta (1-5) was unearned after an error on Tampa Bay shortstop Ben Zobrist. Jeff Francouer scored the run after his single preceding Zobrist’s throwing error.
Kelvin Herrera (1-1) got the win and Greg Holland pitched the 10th inning for his sixth save.
Hochevar, the first overall pick in the 2006 amateur draft, gave up one hit and struck out 10 in eight innings.
The loss snapped the Rays’ five-game winning streak.
“Anytime you play a game like that, and you lose 1-0, of course it’s no fun,” Maddon said. “But overall we played a really good game. We pitched great once again. You can’t be an oil painting every night, man.”
Through the first seven innings, the only player to get as far as second base was Luke Scott, who led off the Rays third with a double and advanced to third on a fly ball. It was the only hit off Hochevar.
The only other Ray to reach base in the first five innings was Matt Joyce, who walked and was picked off first base by catcher Salvador Perez.
The only Kansas City runner to reach second base against Price was Hosmer on a stolen base in the eighth inning.