Watch Craig Kimbrel Blow Rays' Combined No-Hitter, Allow 9th-Inning HR vs. Royals

The Tampa Bay Rays were one inning away from their second no-hitter in franchise history.

And then Craig Kimbrel entered the game.

After Casey Legumina and Ian Seymour combined to pitch eight hitless innings to start Thursday's game against the Kansas City Royals, Kimbrel could not close the door in the ninth. Following a leadoff walk to Starling Marte and strike out of Tyler Tolbert, the veteran right-hander gave up a two-run homer to Carter Jensen that ended the combined no-hitter and shutout in one swing.

Had he finished the job, the effort would have joined Matt Garza's 2010 gem as the only no-hitters in Tampa Bay history.

It also would have joined the Houston Astros' combined no-hitter of the Texas Rangers in May as the only ones of the 2026 campaign to this point.

Jensen had different ideas.

Seymour did much of the heavy lifting with 6.2 scoreless innings. He struck out seven and allowed a single walk in a brilliant performance after Legumina started the game with 1.1 scoreless innings.

Kimbrel could not match that effort, which was more of the same for the 38-year-old who started the season on the New York Mets. His ERA increased to 5.85 on the year after giving up the home run, which is nowhere near his previous form from earlier in a career that features nine All-Star selections.

While the Rays were surely disappointed they didn't get the combined no-hitter, they still earned a dominant 13-2 win.

Junior Caminero launched three home runs and drove in six, and his final long ball deflected off the catwalk deep in left field:

The Rays improved to 45-35 on the season and strengthened their hold on the top wild-card spot in the American League.