Marlins beat Royals 6-3, take series opener

The Miami Marlins defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-3 on Tuesday night as Graham Pauley homered and tripled to drive in four runs, with Kyle Stowers also homering. Pauley, recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville for the fifth time this year, hit his second major league homer and his first triple of the season. Tyler Phillips pitched five innings of one-hit ball for the Marlins, supported by three relievers who allowed five hits and two strikeouts in total. The Royals’ Randy Dobnak struggled, going six-plus innings while giving up six runs on seven hits. Kansas City mounted a late rally in the eighth and ninth, but a balk call that was initially granted and later reversed didn’t suffice to overturn the outcome, and the Marlins remained three games behind San Diego for the final NL wild card. Royals manager Matt Quatraro was ejected in the eighth after the balk sequence was discussed and overturned.