BOSTON — Guess you can’t win them all.
It looked like the Red Sox would never lose to the Royals again after taking the first two games of the teams’ weekend series at Fenway Park to improve their record against Kansas City to 10-2 over the last two seasons. But the Royals defeated the Red Sox 6-3 on Saturday night to end Boston’s party.
The loss snapped a season-best-tying four-game winning streak for the Red Sox.
GAME IN A WORD
Dull.
The Royals squared up some balls against Matt Barnes, who continues to be victimized by home runs. Barnes, who surrendered a big home run in the sixth inning, has given up eight homers in 32 2/3 innings this season.
The Red Sox have owned the Royals dating back to the beginning of last season, but the run came to a screeching halt Friday when neither the offense nor the pitching really did anything inspiring.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Salvador Perez hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning.
Barnes issued a one-out walk to Kendrys Morales and allowed a single to Mike Moustakas. The right-hander fooled Perez with a changeup to even the count 1-1, but the All-Star catcher jumped on the next pitch — a 95 mph fastball — and sent it into the Red Sox’s bullpen to give the Royals a 5-0 lead.
Morales, who scored on the homer, plated two runs in the first inning with a wall-ball double. Perhaps only one run would have scored if left fielder Hanley Ramirez didn’t pursue the fly ball too aggressively.
The Red Sox deserve some credit, as they brought the potential winning run to the plate in the ninth inning against a good Royals bullpen. But closer Greg Holland finally shut the door.
ON THE BUMP
— Barnes allowed five runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings in his second major league start. He struck out two, walked one, hit a batter and threw 96 pitches (63 strikes).
It was a lackluster effort by Barnes, offering more evidence that his long-term future could reside in the bullpen. With Rick Porcello’s return imminent, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Barnes shipped back to Triple-A Pawtucket before his next start.
— Heath Hembree pitched for the second consecutive night. He replaced Barnes in the sixth inning and promptly gave up back-to-back singles before escaping trouble.
— Craig Breslow, who recorded the final two outs of the seventh inning, ran into trouble in the eighth inning after Pablo Sandoval followed a leadoff walk with an error at third base. Alex Rios singled home Kansas City’s sixth run.
— Tommy Layne overcame a leadoff single to toss a scoreless ninth inning.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Mookie Betts hit his first home run since July 10 in the seventh inning. He drilled it into the Green Monster seats off Ryan Madson, who replaced Yordano Ventura after six innings.
— Travis Shaw plated Boston’s first run with an RBI forceout in the sixth inning. Xander Bogaerts and David Ortiz set the table with back-to-back singles to open the frame.
Shaw dug in with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning, but he swung at the first pitch and popped out to third base to end the game.
— Ortiz reached base five times (two singles, three walks) after going 0-for-7 in the first two games.
— Bogaerts had two hits, including an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning after Pablo Sandoval worked a nine-pitch walk with a runner on second.
— Jackie Bradley Jr. went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
— Ramirez went 1-for-4. He had been hitless in his last 16 at-bats before doubling in the eighth inning.
— The Red Sox went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base.
TWEET OF THE GAME
It happens.
[tweet https://twitter.com/SurvivingGrady/status/635253580161789953 align=’center’%5D
UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Royals will close out their four-game series Sunday afternoon. Kansas City will attempt to salvage a split after dropping the first two games of the weekend.
Eduardo Rodriguez will face Edinson Volquez in the finale.
Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
