Blanked for the first five innings, the Red Sox offense finally kicked into gear in the sixth, then added on in the eighth and ninth to coast to an 8-3 win over the Kansas City Royals.
Pinch-hitter Eduardo Rodriguez broke the game open with a three-run homer in the eighth off reliever Jake Diekman. In the ninth, Rafael Devers added a two-run double to provide more cushion.
The Sox trailed 2-0 after five before they showed some life in the sixth. J.D. Martinez tripled home the first run and a sacrifice fly Xander Bogaerts evened the game at 2-2. A run-scoring double by Brock H0lt then scored Devers from first as the Red Sox took the lead for the first time.
Eduardo Rodriguez improved to 6-3, going 5.2 innings.
WHO: Red Sox at Kansas City Royals
WHEN: 8:15 p.m.
WHERE: Kauffman Stadium
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (5-3, 5.04) vs. RHP Glenn Sparkman (1-1, 4.21)
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
10:53 Huge pinch hit from Eduardo Nunez, who comes off the bench to bat for Brock Holt, who launces a three-run homer to left, opening up a big lead for the Sox.
10:06 Nice bit of baserunning on the part of Rafael Devers, who scores all the way from first on a double into the right field corner by Brock Holt, giving the Sox their first lead of the night.
9:58 Tough break for J.D. Martinez, who smashes a ball to the opposite field and has the ball land on the top of a padded fence.....and drop back into the field of play for a run-scoring triple
9:45 Poor baserunning by speedster Billy Hamilton, who couldn't seem to time Rodriguez's move to first, then ran into a double play at second, thrown out - easily -- by Jackie Bradley Jr's throw to second.
9:13 Red Sox have hit Sparkman pretty hard over the last couple of innings, but don't have anything to show for their swings -- few lineouts and a scorching grounder behind the second base bag that was handled by Aldaberto Mondesi.
8:53 A very assured play on the part of Rafael Devers, who comes in hard on a soft chopper and remains under control as he makes a strong throw, across his body, to nab Kelvin Gutierrez at first.
8:50 Cheslor Cuthbert goes down and hooks a cut fastball in the inner half and drives it out to left for a two-run homer.
8:30 Sometimes, Eduardo Rodriguez is guilty of nibbling, but not in the first inning -- attacking the strike zone, mostly with his fastball, and needing just 10 pitches to get the Royals in order.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Benintendi LF
Martinez DH
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Holt 2B
Chavis 1B
Vazquez C
Bradley CF
ROYALS
Merrifield RF
Lopez 2B
Mondesi SS
Gordon LF
Soler DH
Cuthbert 1B
Gutierrez 3B
Maldonado C
Hamilton CF
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox begin the second half of their two-city road trip having lost six of the last nine games and are just 8-10 in the last 18 games...Tonight begins a stretch that sees the Red Sox play 17 games in the next 16 days, with a day-night doubleheader set for Saturday against Tampa Bay...Over the last 31 games, the Red Sox have averaged 6.29 runs per game, the highest figure for AL teams. They also lead the league in average (.281) in that span and their OBP of .359 is the tops in the majors....Starting April 30, the Red Sox have hit 56 homers in their last 30 games the third-highest total in that stretch...They've managed at least one homer in 26 of their last 30 games...Xander Bogaerts has hit five homers in his last 12 games...The shortstop leads the American League with 47 runs scored while leading the Red Sox in RBI with 39....Over his last 15 games, Bogaerts is hitting .406 with a 1.191 OPS and 13 RBI and 17 runs scored....Rafael Devers saw his 11-game hitting streak come to end Sunday, but is still hitting .345 with a .976 OPS over his last 33 games....For the season, Devers is among the league leaders in a host of categories, including hits (fourth), average (sixth) and runs scored (tied for fifth)...Devers was chosen as American League Player of the Month for May on Monday while Michael Chavis was chosen as A.L. Rookie of the Month...Devers, at 22, is the youngest Red Sox player to ever win the award since it was first given out in 1974...Devers led the A.L. in hits (40) and tied for the most runs scored (25) while also hitting .353 with eight homers, seven doubles and 24 RBI...Meanwhile, Chavis led all AL rookies in May with seven homers and 19 RBI...The Red Sox and Royals have evenly split the first 470 games played between the two franchises, 235-235....The Sox won last year's season series, 5-1...Since 2016, the teams are 9-9 against one another....The Sox swept their visit to KC last year, winning by a cumulative score of 32-13....Andrew Benintendi has four steals in the last nine games....Mookie Betts, elevated back to the leadoff spot, was just 1-for-12 in New York hitting leadoff....Brock Holt carries a five-game hitting streak....Christian Vazquez has thrown out nine of the last 14 baserunners attempting to steal...Tonight is Eduardo Rodriguez's 100th regular season start...The Sox are 61-38 (.616) in his first 99 starts....They're 8-1 in his last nine starts....He's allowed a homer in just one his last seven starts and has gone six or more innings in four of his last five starts....Whit Merrifield (5-for-6) has hit Rodriguez well, while Cheslor Cuthbert is 1-for-5 with two strikeouts...The Red Sox have little past history with Glenn Sparkman with Benintendi 2-for-2 lifetime and Betts 2-for-3.
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- Alex Cora set his rotation for (most of) the rest of the week. Chris Sale goes Wednesday, with either Ryan Weber or Mike Shawaryn on Thursday. On Friday, it will be Rick Porcello against Tampa Bay, with David Price and TBA for the doubleheader Saturday and Rodriguez pitching the series finale Sunday.
- RHP Nathan Eovaldi threw 73 pitches in a simulated game Tuesday afternoon. He'll likely have a rehab start by the weekend or soon after.