KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Interstat) — Jacob Latz pitched effectively and the Texas Rangers defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Thursday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. Texas, improving to 34-34, scored single runs in each of the first three innings. Brandon Nimmo doubled in Corey Seager in the first, and Elias Díaz bunted in Ezequiel Duran in the second. The Rangers added another run in the sixth on Evan Carter’s single that scored Duran. Texas finished with 11 hits. Kansas City, which fell to 28-41, scored both its runs in the fourth. After a double play plated Vinnie Pasquantino, Kameron Misner singled home Jac Caglianone. The Royals managed only six hits. Latz (2-1) earned the win. Michael Wacha (4-5) took the loss after allowing three runs in five innings. Attendance was 17,622, and the game lasted 2 hours, 22 minutes.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Interstat) — Corey Seager homered and drove in a run, Brandon Nimmo doubled twice and drove in another and the Texas Rangers used a balanced attack to defeat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Thursday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. Texas scratched out single runs in each of the first three innings and added another in the sixth to build a four-run cushion. The Royals answered with two runs in the fourth but could not complete the comeback against a Texas bullpen that threw four and one-third scoreless innings. The victory lifted Texas to 34-34 on the season and evened the four-game series at two wins apiece after the Rangers lost the opener Tuesday before winning Wednesday in extra innings. Kansas City fell to 28-41. Seager’s solo home run in the third inning extended the Rangers’ lead to 3-0 and was the ninth of the season for the shortstop. He finished 2-for-4. Nimmo went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI, while Elias Díaz also collected two hits and drove in a run. Jake Burger had two singles and Evan Carter added an RBI single. Jacob Latz earned the win in relief, tossing two perfect innings with three strikeouts. He improved to 2-1. Kumar Rocker started for Texas and allowed two earned runs on five hits over four and two-thirds innings, striking out three. Robby Ahlstrom and Cole Winn each threw scoreless relief, with Ahlstrom allowing one hit and striking out one over one and one-third innings and Winn working a clean ninth. Michael Wacha took the loss for Kansas City, falling to 4-5. He pitched seven innings, allowing four runs on nine hits while striking out two. Beck Way threw two scoreless innings of relief, allowing two hits and striking out four. The game began with the Rangers striking in the first. Wyatt Langford lined out sharply to left, but Seager followed with a sharp line-drive single to center. Josh Jung struck out, but Nimmo doubled to right-center, scoring Seager. Nimmo was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple, ending the inning. Texas added a run in the second. Ezequiel Duran singled to left. Burger walked after a challenge overturned a called third strike, putting runners on first and second. Carter flied out to right, advancing Duran to third. Díaz then laid down a bunt single to third, scoring Duran and moving Burger to second. Nicky Lopez grounded into a force out, and Langford grounded into another force out to end the inning with the Rangers ahead 2-0. The Royals threatened in the bottom of the second but could not score. Lane Thomas struck out swinging, Michael Massey grounded out and Kameron Misner struck out swinging. Texas made it 3-0 in the third when Seager led off with a home run to right. Jung grounded out, Nimmo flied out and Duran grounded out. Kansas City finally broke through in the fourth. Vinnie Pasquantino singled to right. Jac Caglianone singled to right, putting runners on first and second. Thomas walked to load the bases. Massey grounded into a double play, second baseman Lopez to shortstop Seager to first baseman Burger. Pasquantino scored on the play, and Caglianone advanced to third. Misner then singled to right, scoring Caglianone to make it 3-2. Nick Loftin grounded out to end the inning. The game’s most critical sequence came in the top of the sixth. With the score 3-2, Nimmo led off with a double to center, his second of the game. Duran hit a fielder’s choice grounder to Wacha, who threw to third baseman Loftin to catch Nimmo trying to advance. Duran reached first safely. Burger then singled to left, moving Duran to second. Carter followed with a single to right, scoring Duran. Burger tried to advance to third on the throw home but was thrown out by right fielder Lane Thomas to Loftin for the second out. Díaz flied out to left to end the inning, but the Rangers had extended their lead to 4-2. That margin proved enough. Latz entered in the sixth and retired the Royals in order, striking out two. In the seventh, Misner walked with one out but was erased on a double play grounder by Isaac Collins, started by Lopez to Seager to Burger. In the eighth, Way worked around a pair of singles by Duran and Burger, striking out Carter to end the inning. Winn took over in the ninth and retired the side in order, with Caglianone called out on strikes, Thomas striking out swinging and Massey lining out to left field to end the game. Texas took an early lead and never trailed. The Rangers outhit the Royals 11-6 and did not commit an error. Kansas City left four runners on base. The win gave Texas its second win in three games after losing the series opener. The Rangers improved to 7-6 in their last 13 games and moved back to .500 for the season. Kansas City lost for the fourth time in five games. Texas next travels to Boston for a three-game series beginning Friday. Kansas City returns home to host Houston for a three-game set starting Friday. Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Texas 6, Kansas City 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave Texas a 50.90 percent probability to win. Kansas City was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of 6 runs went under the over/under line of 9.5.

MLB: Rangers at Royals Preview KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Interstat) — The Texas Rangers visit the Kansas City Royals on Thursday evening at Kauffman Stadium, with the first pitch scheduled under a forecast of 88 degrees and rain. Texas (32-34) enters the 7:10 p.m. Central matchup having lost the first two games of this four-game series. The Royals (28-39) won Wednesday’s contest 1-0 and Tuesday’s game 5-3. The Rangers are expected to start right-hander Michael Wacha (4-4) or right-hander Kumar Rocker (2-5). The Royals’ probable starter has not been announced. Wacha last pitched June 2, allowing four earned runs on 11 hits in six innings of a 7-4 victory at St. Louis. Rocker’s most recent outing came May 28, when he gave up five earned runs in seven innings of a 5-1 loss to Houston. Texas has dropped four of its last five games after a 10-0 win against Cleveland on June 7. The Rangers are 2-4 on their current road trip. Kansas City has won three of four, including a 6-5 victory Sunday at Minnesota. The Royals took two of three from Texas in Arlington from May 29-31. Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi is a player to watch. In his last start Tuesday — a 5-3 loss to Kansas City — Eovaldi allowed four earned runs on four hits over 5 2/3 innings with three strikeouts. Over his previous four starts, he went 2-2 with a 3.77 ERA, striking out 27 in 27 innings. Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone is the key figure for Kansas City. He went 3-for-3 with two home runs and three RBI in Tuesday’s 5-3 victory over Texas. Over his last 10 games, Caglianone is batting .321 with three homers and seven RBI. The Interstat game simulator projects a 6-5 Texas victory. The Royals are listed as minus-1.5 run favorites with an over/under of 9.5. After this series, Texas travels to Boston for three games beginning Friday. Kansas City hosts Houston for a three-game set starting Friday.