Whit Merrifield, Jorge Bonifacio and Eric Hosmer homered as the Kansas City Royals snapped a 45-inning scoreless streak on the way to a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night.
Merrifield’s 16th home run with two outs in the third ended the Royals’ drought, three innings shy of the major league record. The 1906 Philadelphia Athletics and 1968 Chicago Cubs share the mark with 48 scoreless innings.
Hosmer’s three-run homer, his 22nd, in the seventh off left-hander Dan Jennings gave the Royals a cushion.
Bonifacio homered with two outs in the sixth off Alex Cobb (9-9).
Cobb gave up a run on three singles and three wild pitches in the fourth. Hosmer scored on Mike Moustakas’ single, but the Royals stranded runners at second and third.
