O's series in Tampa Bay now a two-day event, plus other notes (O's lose 7-5)

KANSAS CITY - With Hurricane Dorian about to impact the East Coast, the Tampa Bay Rays announced today that they are altering the schedule of the series with the Orioles that begins Monday at Tropicana Field.

The clubs were scheduled to play three games over three days but now will not play on Wednesday. The series will start Monday afternoon at 1:10 p.m. It will continue and conclude on Tuesday with a doubleheader starting at 3:10 p.m.

The Orioles will then head home and host Texas for a four-game series that begins Thursday night at Oriole Park.

Meanwhile the Orioles had three players in their clubhouse today that will be added to the roster tomorrow when rosters can expand to 40.

They will add pitchers Brandon Kline, Tanner Scott and outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. The Orioles are also expected to add some minor league staff as well.

O's manager Brandon Hyde is not ready yet to talk about names besides the three already noted here, but talked generally today about the September call-ups.

"One of things is, you obviously want to be covered on the mound," he said. "As we get later in the year and innings start piling up, we don't want to be short innings-wise on the mound. Something happens with a couple of your starters you want to be able to have a player. So we're looking into getting deeper from a pitching standpoint as well as been talking to Mike (Elias) about what position players we want to bring up."

Hyde said even though Tuesday is now a doubleheader for the Orioles, it will not impact anything with the call-ups.

Hyde today talked about the consistency from both sides of the plate for the outfielder Anthony Santander. He hit a three-run homer here last night. Santander is 9-for-17 over his past four games. Batting as a lefty this year against right-handers, he's hitting .289 with an OPS of .815, and batting right-handed he's hitting .286 with an .845 OPS.

"He's just really comfortable from both sides," Hyde said. "Feel like he's got a little more power right-handed and possibly a little bit better hitter left-handed. But I see a guy that is just really consistent from both sides. You see the power last night, hit the ball to the fountain. It's tough as a switch-hitter to try and even out your swing and try to stay sharp from both sides. It takes a lot of time and effort and work.

"He's just got a really simple swing from both sides. With some guys, one side is just more natural. With Tony both sides come really natural for him. What a luxury to have a switch-hitter that can do damage from both sides. He's got a ton of confidence too. He wants to face the elite pitchers."

Hyde today had respect and praise for lefty John Means. He pitched in his hometown park last night and was pitching for the first time since his father was diagnosed with cancer. Means spent time on the family medical emergency list and was reactivated yesterday. Then he went out and threw seven innings allowing two runs against the Royals.

"You can't put yourself in his shoes. I just kept looking at him during the game and checked in with him a lot during the game. He obviously had a ton of emotion and a ton of people he cared about in the crowd. And his dad was here. It was really cool to see him pitch so well in front of his friends and family," said Hyde.

Royals get on the board first: Bubba Starling hit a solo shot to left field off Dylan Bundy's first pitch of the second inning. The homer marks Starling's third career roundtripper, first at home in Kansas City. O's down 1-0 heading to the third.

Tony ties it: Santander led off the top of the fourth with a solo home run to right field to tie this ballgame up. His 15th homer of the year was drilled at 108 mph off the bat and traveled 405 feet.

Royals go back on top: After the Royals loaded the bases against Bundy with no outs in the fourth, Brett Phillips hit a fly ball to center field. It should've been a sacrifice fly, but Stevie Wilkerson dropped the ball and each runner advanced a base with no out recorded. The error was followed by an RBI groundout and sac fly to give the Royals a 4-1 lead.

Two-time Tony for the lead: In the fifth inning, the Orioles did all the damage with two outs.

Chance Sisco hit a solo shot to left field to cut the deficit in half. Jonathan Villar and Trey Mancini hit back-to-back singles to push starter Jorge López out of the game. Santander then greeted left-handed reliever Tim Hill with a go-ahead, three-run blast to right-center. His 16th homer registered at 106 mph off the bat, traveling 415 feet. The switch-hitting outfielder hit his first homer of the night from the left side, second from the right.

Royals tie it up in the seventh: Hunter Harvey allowed his first run in the big leagues. Hunter Dozier drove a 97 mph fastball deep to center field, his 24th home run of the season, to tie the game in the seventh.

Merrifield breaks the tie, Dozier pads the lead: With Paul Fry on the mound in the eighth, the Royals loaded the bases with three consecutive bunts. Miguel Castro entered and gave up a tiebreaking sac fly to Whit Merrifield, followed by an intentional walk to Jorge Soler and RBI groundout to Dozier to give the Royals a 7-5 lead. Both runs are charged to Fry, but neither are earned. Sisco was charged with a throwing error on the third bunt of the inning.

It's a final: Orioles go down in order in the top of the ninth. Royals win 7-5.