Martin Pérez pitched five innings, allowing one run in a stabilizing 7-1 win over the Royals for both himself and a Red Sox rotation that's been among the worst in baseball in the middle portion of June. He escaped two situations in the first and third inning where Whit Merrifield reached third base with one out in 0-0 and 1-1 games, getting help from the baserunner, who darted home on two manageable ground balls into outs that cost Kansas City key early scoring opportunities. The Royals never scored aside from a Carlos Santana sacrifice groundout, with Garrett Whitlock, Hirokazu Sawamura and Brandon Workman retiring 12 of the 16 batters they faced in four scoreless innings of relief. The win marked only the second time since June 3 that Boston's staff allowed two runs or fewer.
Bobby Dalbec reached base in all four at-bats, providing a key RBI triple to begin a fifth inning that separated Boston for the rest of the night and a two-run home run in the ninth that squashed any chance of a Kansas city comeback in their final at-bats. J.D. Martinez knocked Brad Keller out after the fifth with a two-run home run to left, his 100th with the Red Sox, squashing what had been a solid start through 4.0 IP for Keller.
WHO: Red Sox (42-28) vs. Kansas City Royals (31-37)
WHEN: 4:10 p.m.
WHERE: Kauffman Stadium
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Martin Pérez (4-4. 4.52) vs. RHP Brad Keller (6-6, 6.14)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Santana CF
Verdugo LF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Renfroe RF
Vázquez C
Hernández 2B
Dalbec 1B
ROYALS
Merrifield RF
Santana 1B
Pérez C
Soler DH
Dozier LF
Gutiérrez 3B
Alberto 2B
Taylor CF
Lopez SS
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T1: The Sox struck early, with 2 outs again. After Alex Verdugo doubled and moved over to third on a J.D. Martinez groundout, Xander Bogaerts poked a 1-2 slider into center field to give Boston a 1-0 lead.
B1: Martin Pérez began the day walking Whit Merrifield, who stole two bases easily on slow releases. He recovered and threw eight strikes on 11 pitches to close the inning, striking on Carlos Santana swinging on a 3-2 cutter, before Bogaerts fired Merrifield out at home on a Salvador Pérez grounder for the second out, then closing the inning getting Pérez out on a Jorge Soler grounder.
T2: Kiké Hernandez drew a walk out of the eight hole and Bobby Dalbec whacked an inside fastball to right field before Danny Santana stranded the pair on a groundout. Brad Keller is bouncing back and forth between a mid-90s fastball and mid-80s slider, with 23-of-41 of his pitches landing as strikes so far.
B2: Pérez downed two Royals in four pitches to open the frame, walked Hanser Alberto on five pitches, then worked a 1-2 count to Michael Taylor. He isn't hitting all his spots, darting a cutter just to the left of the plate that would've downed Taylor looking, but finished the at-bat with another cutter at the shoulders that Taylor swung-and-missed on to send Pérez to the third inning for the first time since June 3. He didn't realize he escaped the inning, taking a moment after the strikeout to realize it was the third out.
T3: 1-2-3 3rd for Keller. He downed Verdugo, Martinez and Bogaerts on seven pitches.
B3: Pérez ran into trouble allowing singles to Nicky Lopez and Merrifield. Lopez tied the game 1-1 on a Santana groundout, then Merrifield stole third. In a near 1st-inning mirror, Merrifield darted home on a Sal Pérez grounder right at Martin Pérez that turned into an easy second out in a rundown. Pérez finished the inning off with a 2-2 changeup that bottomed out well below Soler's bat for a strikeout.
T4: Keller retired his seventh straight Sox, striking out Rafael Devers and Vázquez, needing only one pitch to retire Hunter Renfroe on the ground. Bogaerts has the lone hit against Keller's slider and sinker, which he's used to retire six hitters.
T5: Bobby Dalbec unloaded on a Keller slider over Hunter Dozier's head in left field that allowed Hernandez to score from first. Dalbec breezed hom on Santana's groundout, then Martinez mashed a sinker over the middle of the plate for a two-run blast, his 100th with the Red Sox.
B5: Pérez continued to keep the ball away from Royals pitchers, especially keeping righties guessing on the far side of the plate. He's through five innings forcing 10 groundouts and three strikeouts on 78 pitches.
T6: Keller is done after five innings, allowing five earned runs, five hits and three walks on 92 pitches. Anthony Swarzak (8.44 ERA) is in for Kansas City in relief. The Sox are 13-of-25 (.520) career against Swarzak. He nonetheless retired Renfroe, Vázquez and Hernández in order on line outs.
B6: Pérez finishes with five innings, three hits and a trio of strikeouts in line for the win allowing one run, as Alex Cora calls Garrett Whitlock (1.67 ERA) from the bullpen. He yielded a double on his second pitch to Pérez, then retired three Royals in order.
T7: Taylor and Merrifield ran a long way to catch fly balls off Santana and Martinez' bats to center and foul territory in right. Jackson Kowar pitched a clean inning of relief, but hit Dalbec in the back and twice grazed Martinez in a performance that neared erratic.
B7: Whitlock logged another clean relief inning, downing his sixth batter, allowing two hits in two innings.
T9: Dalbec rounded out his game with a single, triple and a two-run home run off Kowar in the ninth to go ahead 7-1, reaching base for the fourth time.
B9: Kelvin Gutiérrez and Hanser Alberto reached base on infield singles off Brandon Workman, raising mild alarms in the Red Sox bullpen, before Alex Verdugo retired Taylor with a sliding grab in left and ended the game on a fly out off Lopez' bat.
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox lost their three-game win streak and a six-game road winning streak, 5-3, against the Royals to begin a three-game series and are now 10-5 in their last 15 ...The Sox are still an MLB-best 22-11 (.667) on the road while going 20-17 (.541) at Fenway Park.... The Red Sox lead the majors with 23 come-from-behind wins this season...The Sox are 20-11 (.645) in games decided by 1 or 2 runs, MLB’s 2nd-best record behind Cleveland (20-9)....The Red Sox lead the majors in runs scored with two outs with 155....44% of their runs have been scored with 2 outs (155 of 352). The Sox lead the majors in 2-strike RBI (143), 22 more than any other team (SEA-121). With RISP & two outs, the Sox lead the majors in AVG (.282), slugging (.511), OPS (.883), and HR (tied, 14)...The Red Sox have scored 10 or more runs in a game an AL-best 10 times ...The Sox are an MLB-best 37-4 (.902) when scoring four or more runs...They are 32-3 when scoring five or more runs, 27-1 when scoring six or more runs, and 20-0 when scoring seven or more runs ...In their past 13 games, the Sox have posted a 6.00 ERA with 27 HR allowed...Red Sox starters have thrown five or more innings 54 times, fourth-most in the majors...The Sox are 35-20 (.636) when their starter lasts five or more innings and 7-8 in all other games....Josh Taylor has made 19 consecutive scoreless appearances, the longest active streak in MLB..In that stretch, he's pitched 15.0 IP with 20 SO and 0.80 WHIP, with a.140 opponent batting average... Martin Pérez has 6 SO to 5 BB, with a 9.00 ERA and .360 BAA in three June starts (1-2)....Failed to reach the third inning in each of his last two starts.. He allowed a season-high three home runs in his last start, the most he's allowed in a game since July 22, 2019 with Minnesota...J.D. Martinez has an eight-game hitting streak
NOTES:
*Boston has allowed the 27 home runs, the most in the league over the past 13 games and four more than the second-place Royals have allowed. Nick Pivetta and Matt Andriese each allowed one on Friday. "We're trying to figure it out. I think at one point in the season we got changeup heavy, we were throwing a lot of them, and a lot of off-speed pitches," Cora said. "You could tell the game plan against (Andriese) was to just sit soft and he got hit hard. Lately his fastball, he's been using it. I think he was trying to go up a few times, he didn't get it where we wanted to."
*Kansas City's starting lineup is a career 35-of-98 (.357) versus Pérez, with the Sox starter a lifetime 5.28 ERA against the Royals in eight starts.
*Alex Cora said Chris Sale will throw a bullpen on Tuesday and Friday next week then potentially face live hitters in AA Portland following week, due to Worcester's road trip. Sale told the Boston Globe this week he's throwing pain-free, and is in position to return to his prime form. "I’ve done things since [the surgery] that have put me in a better position than I have ever been in in my life. I feel strong. I feel healthy."
*Only Santana (2-of-4), Martinez (1-of-5), Bogaerts (1-of-3), Devers (0-of-3) and Vazquez (0-of-2) have faced Keller, who has walked 30 batters in 66 innings, while allowing nine home runs.
*Adalberto Mondesi is taking a scheduled day off for the Royals, Mike Matheny said, after hitting the deciding 464-foot home run in yesterday's win as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.