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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jordan Lyles hasn’t had much to smile about this season.

That finally changed Saturday.

Lyles ended a 15-game winless streak and the lowly Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 9-4 for their second victory in three days against the team with the best record in the majors.

“He had a big smile on his face when we came up the stairs [postgame],” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “The guys were ribbing him a little bit. He’s got a lot of pride in what he does. He’s handled himself tremendously well through this streak, so it feels really good for him.”

Lyles (1-11) allowed four runs and eight hits over six innings. It was his first victory since his final start last year on Sept. 30 while playing for the Baltimore Orioles. The 15-game stretch marked the longest winless streak to begin a season in American or National League history, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

“It feels really good,” Lyles said. “Even more so just how well we played all the way around team-wise. Just a really good team all around win.”

Drew Waters, Freddy Fermín and Edward Olivares homered for the Royals, who have MLB’s second-worst record at 22-55.

Lyles retired his final eight batters before relievers Carlos Hernández worked a 1-2-3 seventh and Nick Wittgren went two perfect innings.

Tampa Bay (53-27) is 5-7 over its past 12 games including two losses to Oakland, which has the worst record in the major leagues.

“We’re not firing on all cylinders right now,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I think we’re in a tough stretch. Wins just haven’t come easy for us. Today, give the Royals credit, they put it to us.”

Rays shortstop Wander Franco returned after being benched for two games for how he was handled frustrating situations this season and hit a 417-foot solo homer during a two-run first. He added an RBI single in a two-run second.

Waters got his third homer, and second in three days, as the Royals scored three times in the third to make it 4-3.

Fermin hit a three-run homer off Yonny Chirinos (3-3) during a four-run fourth as the Royals rebounded to go up 7-4. Bobby Witt Jr. drove in his second run with a run-scoring double.

“Coming from behind was nice,” Quatraro said. “Getting down four, things didn’t look great. To keep adding on was a nice thing.”

Nick Pratto made it 8-4 in the sixth on his second RBI grounder. Olivares went deep against Zack Littell in the eighth.

Chirinos allowed eight runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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No. 7 Georgia Tech down 3 starters vs. Syracuse

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No. 7 Georgia Tech down 3 starters vs. Syracuse

No. 7 Georgia Tech will be without three starters — wide receiver Malik Rutherford, center Harrison Moore and nickelback Jy Gilmore — against Syracuse on Saturday.

All three were ruled out on the ACC availability report after suffering injuries during last week’s win over Duke.

Rutherford is tied for the Yellow Jackets’ lead with 23 receptions and two receiving touchdowns this season and ranks third on the team with 202 receiving yards.

With cornerback Ahmari Harvey out for the second straight week, Georgia Tech will be down two key secondary members against an Orange passing game that is averaging 294.3 yards per game (15th in the NCAA).

The Yellow Jackets are 7-0 for the first time since 1966, while their No. 7 ranking is the school’s highest since 2009.

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UNT QB Mestemaker has record 608 yards in win

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UNT QB Mestemaker has record 608 yards in win

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Redshirt freshman Drew Mestemaker passed for a school-record 608 yards with four touchdowns as North Texas scored 37 unanswered points to beat Charlotte 54-20 on Friday night.

Mestemaker completed 37 of 49 passes with one interception in breaking the record.

He covered 80 yards with three passes — the final one a 41-yard scoring strike to Cameron Dorner — on the game’s first possession to put North Texas (7-1, 3-1 American) up 7-0.

Charlotte (1-7, 0-5) answered with Liam Boyd‘s 24-yard field goal and Grayson Loftis‘ 33-yard touchdown pass to Javen Nicholas to take a 10-7 lead into the second quarter. Loftis and Nicholas then teamed up for a 64-yard score in a one-play drive and Charlotte led 17-7.

Kali Nguma followed with a 29-yard field goal and Mestemaker hit Caleb Hawkins for a 6-yard score to tie it 17-all at halftime.

Charlotte had a drive stall at the North Texas 3-yard line to begin the third quarter and settled for Boyd’s field goal and a 20-17 lead. It was all Mean Green from there.

Mestemaker passed to Tre Williams III for a 30-yard gain to the Charlotte 1 and Kiefer Sibley ran it in on the next play to put North Texas ahead. Nguma added a 41-yard field goal for a 27-20 advantage after three quarters.

Mestemaker connected with Hawkins for a 7-yard touchdown, and Wyatt Young turned a short pass into a 70-yard score and a 20-point lead after the 2-point run failed. Sibley added a 45-yard touchdown run, and Ashton Gray scored on a 32-yard run to polish off the rout.

Young finished with nine receptions for 190 yards. Dorner caught seven passes for 117 yards, and Landon Sides hauled in five for 114.

Loftis totaled 295 yards on 20-for-36 passing for the 49ers. Nicholas had seven catches for 187 yards.

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Utah QB Dampier now probable to face Colorado

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Utah QB Dampier now probable to face Colorado

Utah quarterback Devon Dampier has been upgraded to probable for the Utes’ game against Colorado, according to the updated Big 12 availability report released Friday night.

The junior quarterback has dealt with a lower leg injury this season, and coach Kyle Whittingham said Dampier “got beat up in this game pretty good” after the Utes’ 24-21 loss to rival BYU last weekend.

Dampier was initially listed as questionable Wednesday but progressed throughout the week and took reps in practice, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

The 5-foot-11, 210-pound junior, a transfer out of New Mexico, has started every game despite the injury and ranks sixth in the Big 12 in total offense with 1,375 passing yards, 442 rushing yards and 18 total touchdowns.

True freshman backup Byrd Ficklin played four snaps against BYU and would be in line to start if Dampier is unavailable Saturday against the Buffaloes (10:15 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Utah wide receiver Tobias Merriweather and defensive tackle Dallas Vakalahi were downgraded from doubtful to out against Colorado. Merriweather ranks second among Utes wideouts with 130 receiving yards on eight receptions this season.

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