Red Sox 7, Royals 1

 

Two in a row! The Red Sox beat the Royals a second straight time in a 7-1 rout in Kansas City. 

Starter Ranger Suarez gave up one run and struck out three in 4⅓ innings and lowered his ERA to 2.40. However, disregarding a rough start to the season, his ERA over his last seven starts is 1.12, the best for a Red Sox starter over a seven-game span within a single season since Chris Sale in 2018 and Luis Tiant in 1972. 

The bullpen gave up only two hits in the remaining 4⅔ innings while striking out seven. Whitlock got outs on the three straight batters he faced in the eighth with only seven pitches and picked up the win.  

But the real hero last night was Willson Contreras, who went 2-5 at bat, getting an RBI on each of his hits. He even scored a run on a groundout in the eighth, bringing Rafaela home from third. Durbin hit an RBI in the second and Durran launched a two-run homer to deep right in the ninth.

The pitching seems to be coming into focus for this year's sorry-ass Red Sox, and it's nice to see the offense come alive last night, although Boston still has the second fewest runs this year (177) in MLB. 

Winning has benefits - after two straight wins, the Sox (21-27) move out of the AL East basement and are now tied for third with Toronto. However, while the Sox were going 2-0, the Rays have been 3-0, and Boston is still 11½ out of first place. On the other hand, Boston is still only two games back from qualifying for a Wild Card berth. 

Lefty Connelly Early (3-2, 3.21) pitches tonight versus righty Michael Wacha (4-2, 2.83). It will be the young Early's first time facing the Royals. His last start was May 15 against the hard-hitting Braves, the team with the highest batting average (.263) in MLB, yet he managed to strike out six but also gave up two solo homers. Wacha is a career 3-1 against Boston. In his last start against the Sox back on August 6 of last year, Romy Gonzalez hit a double to deep right center in the first for two runs, but Wacha gave up only two more hits and no runs over the next five innings.

Can the Sox complete their second series sweep of the season? Can they break the tie in the standings with Toronto and take sole possession of third? And will Early be able to take advantage of the Royals low batting average (.238), or will Wacha exploit Boston's .239? Stay tuned and see!