Red Sox 3, Royals 1

 

Finally, the Red Sox faced a matchup they could win: Sonny Gray entered last night's game 9-0 against the Royals, who started Seth Lugo, who was 0-4 against Boston. The Sox entered the game a mere half-game back from K.C. 

Now, after a 3-1 Boston victory, Gray is 10-0 against the Royals, Lugo is 0-5 against the Sox, and Boston is a half-game ahead of Kansas City.

Contreras hit a two-run homer in the sixth and Duran brought Wong home with a sac fly in the seventh. Gray continued to own the Royals and went a masterful six innings with nine K's and only one run on five hits. Chapman closed out the game, earning his 378th career save. Chapman passed Joe Nathan to move into 10th place on the all-time saves list and is now closing in on Dennis Eckersley, who is 12 saves ahead of him for the ninth most saves in MLB history. We'll cheer for whatever we can in this sorry-ass season. 

With the win, the Sox move past the Royals in the Wild Card standings and are now two games back from Seattle for a qualifying spot. They're still 11½ back in the AL East, however. 

We have another favorable pitching lineup scheduled for today: Ranger Suarez (2-2, 2.44) versus Bailey Falter (0-0, 10.13). Suarez has limited experience against K.C. (six innings in one start) but got six strikeouts against only one earned run. Falter is 1-2 against the Sox with 12 earned runs, including one HR, and nine Ks.