All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Royals, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Eovaldi not at his sharpest: Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi gave the Red Sox six innings on a brutally hot night in the midwest, and when he left, the game was tied. So Eovaldi didn't cost the Sox the game, per se. Indeed, he kept them in it and gave them a chance. But two things were of some concern. First, Eovaldi is clearly not physically the pitcher he was before his IL stint. His fastball, which he routinely threw 97-98 mph in the first half of the season, is now measured mostly at 92-93 mph. That means less margin for error by Eovaldi, and also means he has to rely more on his secondary pitches. Second, Eovaldi fell back into the habit of allowing the long ball. He had given up just three in his previous six outings, cutting back after he struggled with gopher balls earlier in the year. But the two he gave up Saturday night -- both solo shots, it should be noted -- were the most he's yielded in a game since he allowed five to Houston on May 17.
Whitlock allows game-winner: Reliever Garrett Whitlock was charged with the loss after he gave up a game-winning solo homer to rookie Nick Pratto with two out in the bottom of the ninth. Until that point, Whitlock had one of his best appearances since returning from a long IL stint. He had retired the first eight hitters he faced over 2.2 innings, with really had only one ball hit hard off him. But in a drawn-out at-bat with Pratto, Whitlock left a changeup over the middle half of the plate and the rookie drove it over the fence in center field. It's hard to second-guess Alex Cora for sending him out for a third inning after he appeared so dominant through the first two. Cora's rationale was sound: Whitlock was already going to be unavailable in the series finale Sunday, and without a lot of pitches thrown in the first two innings, why not send him back for a third. That strategy worked...until it didn't.
Sox not taking advantage of Royals: Following a tough series at the start of the road trip against the defending American League champs, the Sox did well enough to take 2 of 3 at Minute Maid Park, giving them the opportunity to move on to Kauffman Stadium and a chance to win a second straight road series -- something they last did in June. But instead of beating up on a bad Royals team -- one that began the series some 23 games under .500 -- the Red Sox have now dropped two of the first three. And that means the best they can do is win the series finale Sunday to gain a split. Ordinarily, a split of a road series isn't the worst thing, but given the Red Sox predicament -- in last place in their own division and needing to leapfrog a handful of teams to get back into the wild card picture -- it's not nearly good enough.
TURNING POINT
With the game tied in the top of the eighth inning, the Red Sox built something of a threat. After two were out, they got a single from Alex Verdugo and a walk to J.D. Martinez, giving them baserunners at first and second. Even better, their hottest hitter, Christian Arroyo, was due. But Arroyo, who already had three hits on the night, hit a routine grounder right at shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. who just had to move a few feet to step on the bag and record a forceout on Martinez, ending the inning.
TWO UP
Christian Arroyo: Arroyo has been the Sox' hottest hitter on the trip, and that trend continued with a three-hit performance. He's got 12 hits in his last seven games.
Alex Verdugo: Verdugo is hot again, with three hits Friday night, and two more on Saturday with a solo homer and a single.
TWO DOWN
Xander Bogaerts: After a big four-hit night Friday, Bogaerts had a dropoff performance Saturday, going 0-4 with a strikeout and two infield groundouts among his at-bats.
Tommy Pham: Pham was elevated to the leadoff spot and was excited about the assignment, but it didn't work out for his first game as Pham was 0-for-4 with a comebacker and three strikeouts.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"He just got beat. You tip your hat to the kid and we move forward.'' Alex Cora on the game-winning homer by Nick Pratto.off Garrett Whitlock.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* J.D. Martinez has just five hits in his last 48 at-bats.
* The walkoff loss was the eighth of the 2022 season for the Red Sox.
* Nathan Eovaldi threw only 27 percent of his pitches for four-seamers, his lowest usage rate in six years.
* The Sox are just 3-3 in their last six games at Kauffman Stadium.
* Alex Verdugo's solo homer to lead off the sixth was his first homer since June 29, some 125 at-bats ago.
UP NEXT
In the final game of the four-game series, and the last game of the Sox' road trip, it will be RHP Kutter Crawford (3-3, 3.86) vs. RHP Brian Keller (5-12, 4.61) at 2:10 p.m.