Rick Porcello turned in a quality start, the Red Sox offense put up seven runs with help from two three-run innings and Boston continued its home run streak at Fenway Park en route to a 7-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.
All in all, it was a great game for the Red Sox, who snapped their eight-game losing streak in the process. But they lost a prominent piece to their lineup ahead of the eighth inning.
Mookie Betts fouled a ball off his shin in the seventh. He remained in the game and later scored on an Andrew Benintendi double, but he didn’t return after suffering what the team called a shin contusion.
But manager Alex Cora provided a positive update on the right fielder after the game.
“Yeah, cautionary,” he said on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “He fouled one off (his leg). You saw him running the bases, he didn’t look good. I just saw him down there, he should be OK for tomorrow.”
That’s certainly good news, given Boston was without J.D. Martinez in Monday’s game due to back tightness.
Here are some other notes from Monday’s Red Sox-Royals game:
— Sam Travis hit his third home run of the season in the third as he continues to prove his worth to Boston’s lineup.
Over his last 11 games, Travis is batting .333 with a double, home run, three RBIs and four runs.
— The Red Sox had a pair of round-trippers in the win, extending their home run streak at Fenway Park to 18 games, breaking the record of 17 set back in 1969.
— Porcello looked strong on the mound and gave up just one earned run on 99 pitches in six innings of work. In a season where the starters have struggled, it certainly was refreshing to see a quality start.
“Everything starts with them,” Cora said. “… Today was a good beginning.”
The right-hander now is 10-8 with a 5.54 ERA.
“We need to stop the bleeding and turn things around,” Porcello said on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “So it was nice to be able to go out there and have a positive start and contribute to a win.”
— After going 0-for-his-last-15, Xander Bogaerts had a strong night at the plate, going 1-for-3 with a walk, run and RBI.
— Boston picked up some ground in the wild card standings and now are 5 1/2 games back with both the Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland Athletics losing Monday night.
