The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Wednesday, Aug. 7, at Fenway Park. This was the third game of a four-game series in which the Red Sox now lead 2 games to one. While tonight, the Red Sox bats were still slightly subdued, the Sox pitching led them to victory. Unfortunately, the Red Sox did not make up much ground in the wild card race as the Blue Jays and the Mariners both won. While the Red Sox did pass the Yankees, they are still five games back of the Blue Jays for the third wild card spot.
Much like Monday’s game, both starting pitchers were effective tonight, although they succeeded in different ways. The Red Sox starter, Nick Pivetta, went five innings, allowing only two runs. The Royals’ starter, Jordan Lyles, went eight innings, and while he did allow four runs to score, he kept the Royals from having to use any bullpen arms.
The Royals got on the board first in the second inning when left fielder MJ Melendez launched a home run over the Royals bullpen in right, a ball that traveled 445 feet. In that same inning, the Royals had another scoring opportunity after third baseman Matt Duffy reached on an error by first baseman Triston Casas. The next batter, center fielder Kyle Isbel, hit one just over the outstretched glove of left fielder Masataka Yoshida. The ball hit the light on the Green Monster and went inside of it. This was called a ground-rule double, meaning that the Royals had runners at second and third with two outs. According to Red Sox radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione, who has been calling games for 41 years, he has never seen that happen before. Designated hitter Maikel Garcia flew out to right fielder Alex Verdugo to end the inning, and the Royals ended up leaving those baserunners stranded.
In the bottom half of the inning that the Royals took the lead with a solo home run, the Red Sox tied it on a solo home run of their own. This one came off the bat of Triston Casas. His 18th home run of the season traveled 431 feet, clearing the Red Sox bullpen this time. This marked home run number nine for Casas since the All-Star break, which is tied for the most in the American League (AL) during that stretch.
This game didn’t stay tied up for long, as in the fourth inning, Melendez launched his second homer of the night, marking his third in two games, to put the Royals back in front 2-1. Now, in his career against the Red Sox, in just 38 at-bats, he has a batting average (BA) of .421 and has hit six home runs.
The Red Sox would take the lead in the bottom of the fourth after Yoshida doubled to begin the inning. Designated hitter Trevor Story would ground out, and after third baseman Rafael Devers walked, Casas lined out. With two outs, Verdugo doubled to left, scoring two runners and making the score 3-2. The Red Sox scored once more in the inning on a base hit from catcher Reece McGuire, and the score after the inning was 4-2 in favor of the Red Sox.
Both teams were held scoreless over the game’s middle innings, and closer Kenley Jansen came on to try to save the game in the ninth. The inning began with a strikeout of Melendez, which was followed by a home run from catcher Freddy Fermin, making it a one-run game. The next batter, pinch hitter Edward Olivares, walked but was thrown out moments later by McGuire. With one more out to get, Jansen induced Duffy to ground out to second base, ending the ballgame.
The Red Sox will look to win the series tomorrow and take three out of four games from the Royals. On the mound for the Sox will be starter James Paxton, who aims to bounce back after his last start in which he gave up nine hits and four runs against the Blue Jays. They will be facing Austin Cox, who has pitched in 15 games but has only started 2. The Red Sox will look to defeat the lefty and secure their first series win since their sweep of the Braves on July 25th and 26th.
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