St. Petersburg, FL -- (Sports Network) - Ben Zobrist tripled and homered, and Andy Sonnanstine threw seven shutout innings, as the Tampa Bay Rays topped Kansas City, 3-0, in the second of four games with the Royals.

Sonnanstine (10-3) scattered just five hits, walked one and struck out two for Tampa Bay, which has won six in a row. Sonnanstine has won two straight starts and four consecutive decisions.

"He was very effective tonight," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I really believe he's committed to every pitch he throws. To me it comes down to what this guy is all about inside. You've got to pay attention to the success a guy has, not the radar gun."

Akinori Iwamura doubled and drove in two runs for the Rays, who now lead the American League East division by four games over Boston, which lost earlier Saturday to the Yankees. Tampa Bay holds a nine-game lead over New York.

Zack Greinke (7-5) took the loss despite a solid start, as he gave up two runs on seven hits in six innings, while striking out seven.

Mark Grudzielanek had two hits for the Royals, who went without an extra-base hit. Kansas City has lost two in a row and six of eight.

"They've got everything firing," Royals manager Trey Hillman said of Tampa Bay. "We've got to do a better job with our offensive approach...We've got to be able to put in some runs to be able to beat this team."

Tampa Bay got the lead early in the game. Cliff Floyd and Dioner Navarro led off the second inning with consecutive singles. Eric Hinske and Zobrist then struck out, but Iwamura smacked a double to center field to bring both runs home for a 2-0 Rays edge.

Sonnanstine, meanwhile, didn't get into many jams. He gave up two-out singles to Ross Gload and Miguel Olivo in the top of the second, but got Mike Aviles to foul out to escape the situation. For the rest of his outing he only allowed one runner to get past first base -- Grudzielanek in the sixth, after he singled and advanced to second on a throwing error by Carl Crawford.

Zobrist's leadoff homer in the seventh tacked on another run for Tampa Bay, which again threatened in the eighth. Evan Longoria reached on an infield single and later stole second with two out. Navarro then got on base thanks to Alex Gordon's fielding error, putting runners on the corners.

But Hinske struck out to end the inning, and send the game to the ninth, where Grant Balfour tossed a perfect inning to close out the contest and nail down his third save of the season.

Game Notes:

Crawford finished 2-for-4...Greinke had not lost since a June 8 start against the Yankees, when he gave up four runs in five innings...Sunday's scheduled starters are James Shields (6-5, 3.70 ERA) for the Rays and Luke Hochevar (5-6, 4.91 ERA) for the Royals.