BOSTON — If the Red Sox were frustrated about their lack of scoring Friday, then they certainly made up for it Saturday against the Kansas City Royals.
Boston had a tall task going up against Royals starter Danny Duffy, who hadn’t lost a game sine June 6 heading into Saturday’s game, but the club handled the left-hander easily. The Red Sox knocked him from the game after five innings and seven runs, while Boston starter David Price was solid through six innings en route to an 8-3 win.
Here’s how it all went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Explosion.
The Red Sox had a rough time plating runs Friday, but they couldn’t stop scoring them Saturday. Boston’s offense blew up in the middle game against the Royals with 12 hits, including three home runs.
IT WAS OVER WHEN …
Mookie Betts and Hanley Ramirez went back-to-back in the fifth inning.
When you score seven runs on a Cy Young Award contender like Danny Duffy, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll come out victorious.
ON THE BUMP
— Save for the second inning, David Price actually had a great night on the mound. The left-hander had good control over his pitches and really held things down after giving up two runs, including a solo home run to Royals catcher Salvador Perez, in the second inning. That one frame did prevent Price from going deep, though, as he allowed two runs on five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts over six innings.
— Brad Ziegler got the call in the seventh and pitched a 1-2-3 inning.
— Clay Buchholz dealt a two-out walk to first baseman Eric Hosmer in the eighth inning but didn’t do any damage otherwise, inducing three groundouts.
— Robbie Ross Jr. came on in the ninth and immediately gave up another solo shot to Perez. The lefty hit Royals second baseman Christian Colon with a pitch with two outs, but retired right fielder Paulo Orlando to end the inning.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Dustin Pedroia is not from this planet. After going 4-for-4 with a walk Friday, the second baseman continued to reach base at an incredible rate, going 4-for-5Â with two RBIs, a run and a double.
Pedroia reached base in 12 straight plate appearances before grounding out in the ninth.
— Xander Bogaerts made some noise in the first inning with a huge two-run homer hit right out of Fenway Park. The shortstop went 2-for-4 with a run, three RBIs and a ground-rule double.
— Mookie Betts hit a solo shot in the fifth inning to go 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Hanley Ramirez went back-to-back with Betts, finishing the night 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
— Jackie Bradley Jr. broke out of his slump a bit, hitting a ground-rule RBI double in the second inning to give the Red Sox the lead back. JBJ went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
— David Ortiz went 1-for-4 with a single in the first inning.
— Chris Young went 0-for-2 with two walks and two runs, while Aaron Hill went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run.
— Sandy Leon went 0-for-4.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
The Green Monster gifts home runs sometimes, but the Red Sox certainly aren’t complaining.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox finish out their series against Kansas City with some “Sunday Night Baseball” action on ESPN at 8:08 p.m. ET. Eduardo Rodriguez will face off against Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
