Joey Wendle singled in a run with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Tampa Bay Rays over the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Tuesday night. 

Johnny Field and Jesus Sucre led off the inning with singles against Kelvin Herrera (1-1). Herrera retired the next two batters before Wendle laced a single to left.

Jonny Venters (1-0) got two outs for his first victory since Sept. 27, 2012 while with Atlanta against the Mets. The left-hander had been out since 2012 due to four major elbow surgeries, including three Tommy John operations, before returning to the majors this season.

Alex Colome worked a spotless ninth for his eighth save.

The Royals lost their fourth straight and sixth in seven.

C.J. Cron hammered Ian Kennedy's first pitch to center for a two-run shot during the Rays' three-run first. Cron has reached base in a career-high 21 consecutive games and singled in the second for his fifth multihit game in his last seven games.

The Rays batted around in the first, which also included Adeiny Hechavarria's run-producing single scoring Matt Duffy, who had doubled. Kennedy struck out Sucre with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Left-hander Anthony Banda, who was making his Rays debut after being acquired in a February three-team trade from Arizona, threw only 52 pitches in five innings, allowing three runs and six hits. He became the eighth Rays' starter in 40 games this season, equaling the number of starters they used in 2017.

Kennedy threw 34 of his 101 pitches in the first inning. He labored through six innings, yielding five runs on seven hits while striking out six. Span went down looking to end the sixth for Kennedy's 1,500th strikeout.

Whit Merrifield drove in three runs for Kansas City. His seventh-inning two-out single off Sergio Romo scored Alex Gordon and Hunter Dozier. Merrifield's fifth-inning single scored Dozier.

NOW BATTING FIFTH

Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar batted fifth for the first time in his nine-year career. He is the seventh player to bat fifth for the Royals this season.

ROSTER MOVES

The Rays optioned RHP Hunter Wood to Triple-A Durham, one day after he was recalled. The move was made to clear roster space for Banda.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Rays: Duffy left in the fifth inning with right hamstring tightness. Right fielder Carlos Gomez was removed in the sixth with right groin tightness. ... RHP Nathan Eovaldi threw a bullpen session Tuesday in St. Petersburg, Florida. ``All went well,'' Rays manager Kevin Cash said. Eovaldi, who is on the disabled list with loose elbow fragments, will start a rehab game Friday for Durham. Cash said he would throw three innings and 50 pitches.

Royals: RF Jorge Soler was out with a displaced rib, which he hurt while making a leaping catch Monday. ``It's not serious,'' Royals manager Ned Yost said.  ``On a scale of 1-to-10, it's not even a one, maybe a three-fourths.'' He said Soler could return Wednesday. ... Back spasms kept IF Cheslor Cuthbert out of the lineup. ... RHP Justin Grimm threw 20 pitches in his first rehab appearance with Triple-A Omaha. He allowed a run on a hit and a walk and struck out one in 2/3 of an inning. He is on the disabled list with lower back stiffness.

UP NEXT

Rays: RHP Jake Faria, who has allowed one or no runs in four of last six starts, is the probable starter for the series finale.

Royals: RHP Jason Hammel will be making his first start since allowing nine runs on Friday at Cleveland.