ST. PETERSBURG -- Primed to put up a big inning against Rays ace Blake Snell on Wednesday afternoon at Tropicana Field, the Royals were turned away without a run, despite two of the fastest runners in the Majors, Terrance Gore and Billy Hamilton, flaunting their speed on the bases.

With one out in the second inning of Kansas City's 10-2 win and Gore on third base, Hamilton on first and Whit Merrifield at the plate, Snell threw to Brandon Lowe at first in an attempt to pick off Hamilton -- but he had already taken off for second on a steal attempt. Lowe let Hamilton go when he saw Gore straying too far from third, setting up a rundown that ended with the second out. After Gore was tagged, Lowe spotted Hamilton again pushing his luck, this time between second and third.

Lowe chased Hamilton back toward second before throwing a strike to second baseman Joey Wendle, who tagged out Hamilton to end the inning, setting off a celebration from Snell.

Royals manager Ned Yost said after the game that nothing about the play was by design, though the Royals do often try double steals with runners on first and third.

“We told Terrance we were going to [have Hamilton] do a fake break and see if we can draw a throw,” Yost said. “But it was a pickoff. So off Hamilton goes and he takes second, and then [Gore] fake breaks and it was just [a mess]. None of that was by design. It was just a total mess.”

Said Hamilton, “You’re supposed to try to make them make the throw, and even if I get out, Terrance will score and you get a run. But it’s just a mistake. I should have been at third after Terrance got out. But mistakes get made. You just try to make sure they don’t happen again.”