For the second straight night, the Red Sox rode their bullpen and powerful lineup to a win over a mediocre opponent.
After Nick Pivetta was knocked around for six runs in just 4.1 innings, the Red Sox got 4.2 innings of scoreless relief from four relievers, holding off the Kansas City Royals 7-6 for Boston's fifth straight win.
Meanwhile, the Sox pounded out 12 hits and though they had just one extra-base hit, it spelled the difference. Trailing by a run in the sixth, J.D. Martinez laced an opposite-field double, scoring two to put the Sox ahead for good. Martinez led the way with four RBI.
WHO: Red Sox (48-31) vs. Kansas City Royals (33-44)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park|
SERIES TO DATE: BOS 1-0
SEASON SERIES TO DATES: 2-2
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nick Pivetta (6-3, 4.00) vs. RHP Brad Keller (6-8, 6.39)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI 93.7 FM
LINEUPS
ROYALS
Merrifield 2B
Soler RF
Santana 1B
Perez C
O'Hearn DH
Rivera 3B
Dozier LF
Taylor CF
Lopez 2B
RED SOX
Hernandez 2B
Verdugo LF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Renfroe RF
Vazquez C
Santana CF
Dalbec 1B
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B6: Sixth lead change of the night as Martinez lines an opposite-field double into RF, scoring two.
T5: Ryan O'Hearn drives a four-seamer into the CF bleachers, as the lead see-saws back and forth. Pivetta leaves having allowed six runs on three homers in just 4.1 innings, arguably his worst start of the year.
B4: Red Sox re-take the lead (again), but leave two on and have stranded six after four innings.
B4: For the second time tonight, we have a tie game. Hernandez with a sharp single to left, scoring Danny Santana. Sox have first-and-second, nobody out and the heart of the order up.
T4: More damage against Pivetta -- following a double by Hunter Dozier, Taylor hammers a hanging slider into the bullpen and the Royals have re-gained the lead.
B3: Hunter Renfroe hits the ball on the screws - but directly at KC CF Michael Taylor. Still deep enough to score the runner from third easily.
B2: Baserunning has been too aggressive in the first two innings. Martinez was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double in the first, and Bobby Dalbec is caught trying to go first-to-third on a single by Hernandez for the final out of the second.
T2: Pivetta gets out of a first-and-second jam, but he labored and has already thrown more than half (53) than he threw in last week's no-hit bid (100) through 6.2 innings at Tropicana Field.
T2: Pivetta has been squeezed a few times by home plate umpire Jim Reynolds and he's not very happy about it. Very animated on the mound, slamming the rosin bag around.
T2: Lot of hard contact in the early going off Pivetta -- certainly very different from his last outing.
B1: Red Sox don't need much time to to tie it up and go ahead. J.D. Martinez singles home Kike Hernandez and Alex Verdugo scores from third on an infield chopper by Xander Bogaerts.
T1: There will be no late-inning no-hit drama for Nick Pivetta tonight. Whit Merrifield hits the fifth pitch of the game just past the right field foul pole for a quick 1-0. Tenth leadoff homer of Merrifield's career.
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have won each of their last four games and are 16-10 in June. At 48-31 (.608), the Red Sox are tied with Houston for the best record in the AL, tying the Dodgers for the second-best in MLB....The Sox are a season-high 17 games above .500...: Red Sox pitchers have a 1.81 ERA in their last five games and a 3.35 ERA in 13 games beginning June 14....The Sox lead the AL with 1.02 HR/9.0 IP.....Sox starters have thrown 5 five or more innings 61 times, third-most in the majors...The Sox are 40-21 (.656) when their starter lasts five or more innings and 8-10 in all other games... The Red Sox are 24-17 at home, including 24-14 (.632) since getting swept by Baltimore to begin the season...Their .585 win % at home ranks second in the AL East....The Sox are an MLB-best 24-14 (.632) on the road. The Sox are an MLB-best 43-4 (.915) when scoring four or more runs...They are 35-3 when scoring five or more runs, 30-1 when scoring six or more runs, and 22-0 when scoring seven or more runs. ....The Sox are 12-4 in the last 16 meetings with the Royals...Red Sox relievers rank fourth in the AL and eighth in the majors in ERA (3.55)...They have an MLB-high six pitchers with 20+ relief appearances and a sub-3.10 ERA. Among AL closers, Matt Barnes ranks first in strikeout percentage (43.9) and ranks second in WHIP (0.85) and in saves (17) ....The Red Sox have hit four or more homers an MLB-best seven times this season, including each of the last two games.....The Red Sox are one of four AL teams to feature five players with 10 or more homers this season (also HOU, OAK, TOR): Rafael Devers (19), J.D. Martinez (15), Xander Bogaerts (13), Hunter Renfroe (11), and Bobby Dalbec (10)....Josh Taylor has made 23 consecutive scoreless appearances (18.1 IP), tied with the Cubs’ Dan Winkler for MLB’s longest streak of 2021. Taylor’s streak is the longest by a LHP in Red Sox history (previous: 19, Hideki Okajima in 2007 & Tony Fossas in 1992).... Xander Bogaerts (23 G) and J.D. Martinez (17 G) have the two longest active on-base streaks in MLB...Bogaerts has a .360 AVG and 1.001 OPS during his streak....In 49 games since the beginning of May, Renfroe is batting .307 with 23 XBH, 32 RBI, and a .910 OPS....In that time, he ranks ninth in the AL in AVG and 11th in OPS...Nick Pivetta did not allow a hit over a season-high 6.2 IP on Thursday at TB ..It was longest scoreless start since 5/21/18 with PHI vs. ATL...He's recorded at least 6 strikeouts in a career-high eight consecutive starts. ...He is winless in his last five starts, and has allowed three runs or less in four of the last five including two or less in three...The Sox have lost four of his last five starts after winning nine of his first 10 this season.....Each of his last 10 runs allowed have scored via home runs....Michael Taylor is 5-for-12 lifetime against Pivetta....Bobby Dalbec is 2-for-2 in his career against Brad Keller and Martinez is 2-for-8 with a homer lifetime.
NOTES:
* Alex Cora is pleased with the run that Kike Hernandez is on. Hernandez has led off the last two games with homers and In 18 games since June 7, has an .865 OPS, noting that Hernandez is doing a better job controlling the strike zone. "He's been doing a good job for us.'' said Cora.
* Christian Arroyo (IL-knee contusion) was scheduled to run the bases at Fenway, with an eye toward starting a brief rehab in Worcester and the possibility that he could join the Sox on the upcoming West Coast road trip. Meanwhile, catcher Kevin Plawecki (hamstring) suffered something of a setback Monday is not going to be ready to be activated in the next week.
* Chris Sale is set to throw another live BP session Wednesday. He'll warm up in the bullpen, sit in the dugout, face a few hitters, sit in the dugout again and again face a few more batters. The workload will include 15-20 pitches, with increased instensity.