The Boston Red Sox are having their way with Kansas City Royals pitching.
The Red Sox bats put on a show for the second straight night at Kauffman Stadium to the tune of a 15-4 victory over the lowly Royals. In fact, every single Sox player, substitutes included, recorded at least one RBI in the contest.
Boston’s offensive outburst was needed as David Price did not have his best stuff. The left-hander only lasted 4 2/3 innings in which he allowed four runs on six hits. Luckily for Price, his team bailed him out in its fifth straight win.
With the victory, the Red Sox improved to 61-29, while the Royals fell to 25-63.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Resilient.
The Red Sox didn’t waiver when they faced an early 3-0 deficit, as the bats came alive and the bullpen stood tall to lock down the win.
ON THE BUMP
— After a fairly breezy first inning, Price ran into some trouble in the second when Lucas Duda roped a one-out solo home run to give the Royals an early lead.
Things didn’t get much better for Price in the third inning. After getting the first out of the frame, the southpaw allowed three straight singles, the third of which was an RBI base knock off the bat of Mike Moustakas that hit Price in the midsection. Following a brief injury delay, Salvador Perez boosted Kansas City’s lead to 3-0 with a sacrifice fly.
Price’s best inning came in the fourth when he struck out the side, but the left-hander’s outing went off the rails in the fifth. Whit Merrifield led off the inning with a single before Price hit three (!) batters in the inning, the last of which allowed Merrifield to score. That was enough for manager Alex Cora, who pulled his starter with two outs in the frame.
— Heath Hembree got the last out of the fifth with the bases loaded before tossing a scoreless sixth.
— Matt Barnes pitched a clean seventh inning with two strikeouts.
— Joe Kelly recorded the first two outs of the eighth before being pulled with an injury. Brandon Workman recorded the final out of the inning.
— Hector Velazquez tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Mookie Betts had a massive night at the plate, going 4-for-6 with two doubles.
— Andrew Benintendi was all over the basepaths as he went 2-for-2 with a solo homer, RBI double and four walks.
— Xander Bogaerts (1-for-3) launched the biggest hit of the night for the Red Sox, a three-run triple in the fifth inning.
— J.D. Martinez (2-for-5, double) knocked in Boston’s first run of the game with an RBI single in the fifth.
— Christian Vazquez smacked a two-RBI single in the seventh inning.
— Sandy Leon picked up two hits, including an RBI single, off the bench. Blake Swihart also logged an RBI base knock as a reserve.
— Mitch Moreland, Brock Holt and Rafael Devers all reached base via single.
— Jackie Bradley Jr. was the lone member of the Red Sox without a hit.
TWEET OF THE DAY
Martinez was this close to a homer in the seventh:
UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Royals will do battle in the series finale Sunday afternoon. Rick Porcello is set to get the ball for Boston opposite Jakob Junis. First pitch from Kauffman Stadium is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. ET.
