All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 6-2 loss to the Royals, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Cashner can't keep the ball in the park: Andrew Cashner's principal problem since joining the Red Sox has been the long ball. He gave up two in his first start and two more in his second. Then, after not allowing any over his next two starts, he was rocked for three Tuesday night -- two by Jorge Soler. "I thought I had good stuff,'' said Cashner. "I made three mistakes, they hit three home runs. That's kind of the way it goes. I just think I've made too many mistakes and they've hammered them here.'' Cashner has allowed nearly as many homers (seven) in five starts with the Sox as he did (11) in 17 starts with the Orioles. And it's not as if Camden Yards is some roomy, pitcher-friendly ballpark - the ball jumps out of there, especially in the warm-weather months. But since arriving in Boston, Cashner has been susceptible to homers, and that's been costly.
Runners in scoring position staying in scoring position: For the better part of the last few months, the Sox have been teeing off on opposing pitchers when they have runners on base, and in particular, when they have runners at second and/or third. The Sox came into Tuesday, in fact, third in all of baseball in batting average (.285) with RISP. But since their long losing streak began in the middle of the last homestand, that skill has seemingly deserted them. On Tuesday, they were a mere 2-for-10 in such at-bats and in the last seven games overall, they're just 8-for-48 (.167). They had runners at first-and-third in the second and failed to get a run in. In the fourth, they had first-and-second with two outs and stranded both. "I don't think it's (guys pressing at the plate),'' offered Alex Cora. "We expanded the (strike) zone today. There were some pitches on the edges of the zone and you can't do damage there. I think we swung at a lot of pitches out of the zone or at the edge of the zone that you can't do damage with.''
Hernandez impressive again: By the time Darwinzon Hernandez took the ball in the ninth, the Red Sox were already trailing by four, so this was far from a high leverage spot. And, let's face it, the Royals don't possess one of the more imposing lineups in the league. But still, Hernandez looked sharp in striking out the side -- the first two swinging and the last looking. He's not allowed an earned run in the 10 relief appearances he's made since being recalled from Pawtucket. Even more impressive, Hernandez is averaging two strikeouts per inning in that span, fanning 18 hitters in nine innings. All together, Hernandez has struck out 42.6 percent (29-of-68) of the hitters he's faced in the majors this season and is averaging 18.2 strikeouts per nine innings. Control continues to be an issue (he's walked seven in the last nine), but there are times when the rookie lefty simply overmatches big-league hitters.
TURNING POINT: Shutdown innings continue to be an issue for the Red Sox. After they took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third, it took no time at all for Cashner to hand the lead over to the Royals. Trouble began with a two-out walk to Hunter Dozier and continued with a two-run homer to Soler. The Sox never led again.
ONE UP
Christian Vazquez: Vazquez banged out two hits and knocked in a run, and in the process, set a career high for most hits in a season (97).
ONE DOWN
Mookie Betts: He worked a walk in the fourth, but otherwise wasn't a factor offensively as the Red Sox couldn't get anything going at the top of their lineup.
QUOTE OF NOTE:
"This has probably been one of the toughest stretches of my career. I've just got to get back to what I do well.'' - Andrew Cashner.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Jackie Bradley Jr. tied for the team lead in outfield assists when he threw out Whit Merrifield attempting to stretch a single into a double in the first.
- Since being recalled on June 14, Josh Taylor has a 2.25 ERA over his last 23 appearances.
- Marcus Walden hasn't allowed a hit to the last 20 batters he's faced.
- The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak against the Royals.