Royals 9, Rays 8: Jeff Francoeur delivered a two-out, two-run single to cap the rally as Kansas City scored five times in the sixth inning to take the lead and held on to edge visiting Tampa Bay.

Billy Butler recorded three hits and an RBI while Lorenzo Cain knocked in a pair of runs for the Royals, who trailed 5-0 in the third inning. Bruce Chen (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings to earn the victory and Greg Holland retired the Rays in order in the ninth for his seventh save.

Luke Scott was 3-for-3 with a solo homer and an RBI single and Evan Longoria chipped in with three hits and two runs scored for Tampa Bay. Reliever Jake McGee (0-2) gave up all five runs in the sixth.

Matt Joyce and Ben Zobrist hit back-to-back homers with one out in the first inning off Royals starter Luis Mendoza, who gave up six runs in four innings. The Rays scored in each of the first four frames to build a 6-1 advantage, capped by Scott’s blast just inside the right-field foul pole in the fourth.

Cain tripled home Butler and scored on a sacrifice fly by Mike Moustakas in the fifth as Kansas City pulled within 6-4. After Eric Hosmer’s run-scoring infield hit tied the score in the sixth, Cain followed with an RBI bloop single and Francoeur bounced his single up the middle for a 9-6 lead.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Tampa Bay has hit at least one home run in its last 16 games to break the club record of 15 set in 2009. … Kansas City LF Alex Gordon had an RBI single in the fourth to improve to 13-for-25 with runners in scoring position. … Tampa Bay starter Jeremy Hellickson allowed nine hits and four runs over five innings.