The Tampa Bay Rays and manager Kevin Cash hope giant right-hander Tyler Glasnow figured some things out amid a nightmarish first inning at Fenway Park last Saturday night.The other members of the Rays staff certainly have.The 6-foot-8 Glasnow http://www.giantsfanproshop.com/authentic-joe-panik-jersey , acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Chris Archer trade, gave up four runs in that fateful first inning against the Red Sox, but yielded just one run — on a J.D. Martinez home run — after that.Article continues below ...Since that night, the Rays haven’t lost, and Glasnow now tries to finish off a four-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night at The Trop in St. Petersburg, Fla.The Rays have won four straight to move a season-high five games over .500 (66-61), partially thanks to going 6-0 against the lowly Royals, who lost their 89th game of the season Wednesday night.Danny Duffy comes off the 10-day disabled list (shoulder impingement) to pitch for the Royals on Thursday.Glasnow is 1-3 with a 4.10 ERA on the season and 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA in four starts with the Rays. He is 3-12 with a 5.51 ERA in his young career.The Tampa Bay pitching staff notched 27 straight scoreless innings, tying a club record, before yielding one run Tuesday after two straight shutouts and giving up three more runs Wednesday night.Glasnow retired the last 12 batters he faced and 17 of the last 18 to end Saturday night on a positive.Brandon Lowe and Mallex Smith drove in two runs apiece and the Rays won another game with an “opener” starting pitcher on Wednesday night. Ryne Stanek started and worked two hitless innings before Yonny Chirinos pitched five innings in relief. Sergio Romo pitched the ninth for his 18th save.The Rays stroked 10 two-out hits as their offense woke up Wednesday. The 10 two-out hits were the most by the team in a game in two years.“That’s really, really impressive Willie McCovey Jersey , especially for an offense that has been scuffling so much,” Cash said. “There were some great hits by Mallex, by Brandon Lowe, against a really tough left-hander (Tim Hill). We pieced together, and we needed to separate the game a little bit. It allowed us to line up the bullpen a little bit. … A lot of good offensive numbers that we kind of needed.”Duffy (7-11, 4.90) struggled in the two starts before hitting the DL, yielding 12 earned runs on 16 hits in just 11 1/3 innings. He is 2-1 with a 2.77 ERA in four career starts against the Rays, all in Kansas City.For the Royals, the misery of the 2018 season continues. They have dropped 16 of their last 20 and lost six straight series.Jakob Junis fell to 6-12 with the loss Wednesday night, giving up two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings.“He’s been consistently sharp, especially the last four outings http://www.giantsfanproshop.com/authentic-mel-ott-jersey ,” said Kansas City manager Ned Yost. “I expect him to go out and make starts like this, give us a chance to win like he did.”Tommy Pham, who dislocated his right ring finger diving into a base Tuesday night, reported he felt better but that the finger was still swollen. He’s shooting for Thursday but Friday appeared more likely.“I think we avoided a pretty big scare,” Cash said.Rookie first baseman Jake Bauers, in a 1-for-33 tailspin, was rested Wednesday, Cash saying, “He’s been pressing, there’s no denying it. He’s frustrated with himself.”Jorge Bonifacio, scratched Tuesday with lower back stiffness Hunter Pence Jersey , rested Wednesday but was on Kansas City’s bench and available.The current Rays roster is just a cumulative 4-for-24 (.167) with no RBIs against Duffy. Carlos Gomez is 3-for-7 (.429) but the rest of the players are a combined 1-for-17 (.059). Mike Minor and Jaime Barria are hoping to maintain their recent success on the mound when they go head-to-head Monday night in the opener of a three-game series between the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium.Minor (11-7, 4.31 ERA) is 5-1 in his past six starts with a 2.78 ERA. The left-hander has been one of the few recent bright spots for the Rangers (61-82), who have lost four in a row and 10 of their past 13 games.Barria (10-8, 3.30) is 4-1 with a 1.82 ERA in his past six starts for the Angels, who have won four in a row and seven of 10. Two of Barria’s recent outings came against the Rangers, and he’s 3-0 against Texas this season with a 0.86 ERA.Article continues below ...Minor is also scheduled to make his second straight start against the Angels after allowing two runs and three hits in five innings of a 4-2 win on Tuesday, his only decision against Los Angeles in four career appearances, including two starts. The Angels were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position against Minor.Minor was a starter his first five seasons with the Atlanta Braves, missed two seasons because of injuries and then made 65 appearances out of the bullpen for the Kansas City Royals last season. The Rangers acquired Minor in the offseason and they moved him back into a starting role.Minor told MLB.com after his last outing that he’s not surprised with his success as a starter but rather expected it.“That sounds bad, but I think people didn’t expect me to have a good season,” he said. “They thought I should have gone to the bullpen and I wasn’t cut out to be a starter anymore. It feels good to end it like this. Couple more starts to go http://www.giantsfanproshop.com/authentic-matt-williams-jersey , but it’s coming together.”Minor brings a 1.10 WHIP in 25 starts into the series opener.The only players in franchise history with a WHIP of 1.1 or lower and at least 25 starts are Ferguson Jenkins (1974, 1978), Bert Blyleven (1976), Nolan Ryan (1989-91) and Yu Darvish (2013).“We couldn’t have asked for it to work any better than it has,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister told MLB.com. “He’ll still get to 29 starts, which I think is an important mark for him to get to. It’s important to continue that process with Mike and not push the envelope at all, so we still have a guy who is fairly fresh into the offseason, in good shape so that when we get to spring training next year, we can take the gloves off and let him run with it.”Barria beat the Rangers on Wednesday in Texas, blanking them on two hits for five innings.“He had to work hard to get through five innings,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia told MLB.com after that game. “We talk about Jaime Bruce Bochy Jersey , what his upside is — even when he’s not as crisp as he was maybe the other night in Houston, he’s facing a tough lineup, and he puts up five zeros and gives us a chance to win.”Angels designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is getting a chance to hit every game with Albert Pujols sidelined with a knee injury, and he’s 9-for-19 in his past five games with four home runs, a double, triple and 10 RBIs.Ohtani knocked Minor out of the game with a home run to lead off the sixth inning on Tuesday.