KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Elliot Johnson homered against his former team and the Kansas City Royals rallied from an early five-run hole, beating the Tampa Rays 9-8 on a cold, blustery Wednesday night.
Lorenzo Cain and Jeff Francoeur each drove in a pair of runs for the Royals, who trailed 5-0 in the third inning before slowly chipping away at the Tampa Bay lead.
They eventually pulled ahead with a five-run sixth off Rays reliever Jake McGee (0-2), and then held on through the final three innings for their second straight comeback win.
Bruce Chen (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Royals starter Luis Mendoza, and Greg Holland worked a perfect ninth inning in a light drizzle for his seventh save.
Matt Joyce, Ben Zobrist and Luke Scott each homered for the Rays, who dropped to 4-11 on the road this season. Starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson allowed four runs in five innings.
Kansas City will go for the series sweep on Thursday, assuming the game is even played. The forecast calls for temperatures in the upper 30s with a good chance of rain or snow.
It was 66 degrees and partly sunny at first pitch Wednesday, but the weather deteriorated quickly. The temperature dropped into the upper 40s by the later innings, and winds gusting more than 30 mph to right field turned every ball hit out of the infield into an adventure.
Tampa Bay jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Joyce homered for the second straight game, and Zobrist gave the Rays back-to-back homers for the first time this season.