BSJ Game Report: Red Sox 9, Royals 5 - Alex Verudgo and Triston Casas lead offensive resurgence

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 9-5 win over the Royals, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Offense wakes up after slow Friday: Alex Verdugo and Rafael Devers led off the game with extra-base hits, more than Boston had all game on Friday, against Royals starter Alec Marsh before Triston Casas blasted his 22nd home run of the season to take a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Boston matched its offensive effort by the end of the second inning when Verdugo doubled. Justin Turner, Adam Duvall and Masataka Yoshida loaded the bases to begin the third, setting up a Trevor Story RBI ground out and Enmanuel Valdez drove in two more on his single, propelling Boston ahead 6-0 and knocking Marsh out after 2.2 IP. Turner and Yoshida made it 8-1 with RBI hits in the fourth, then Story hit an RBI double in the sixth to go up 9-1. 

Tanner Houck takes step then stumbles in sixth: RHP Tanner Houck made his third start since returning from his facial fracture, his first without restrictions with Boston badly in need of an extended starting effort. Alex Cora tried to push Houck into the sixth inning with a 9-1 lead after he started the game striking out five over five one-run innings. The Royals loaded the base on him before he recorded an out, pulling Josh Wincowski into the game, who let all three runners cross, charged to Houck, on two singles and a walk. Wincowski escaped the bases-loaded jam by forcing Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin into flyouts. Nick Pivetta closed over three innings after his rough outing against the Dodgers a week ago, striking out five and earning the save. 

THREE UP

Triston Casas: Hit another bomb to blow the game open in the first inning, homering to begin a 13-40 (.325), nine-run night badly needed after Alex Verdugo said Boston's offense got beat down the night before. Casas singled to begin the sixth inning, scoring on Trevor Story's RBI double to add an insurance run for a 9-1 lead and finish 2-4 with a walk in the fourth. He's on a six-game hit streak, 10-21 (.476) over that stretch with 5 XBH and 5 BB. 

“I’ve learned a lot about myself, I’ve learned a lot about the game," Casas said. "Just treat every day like its own individual challenge. It’s a blessing to come out here and play the game that I love for a living, so I look at it as a privilege, not a task.”

Alex Verdugo: Added a leadoff triple and second-inning double to his dominant run atop Boston's order, falling a home run short of the cycle with his fifth-inning single. Verdugo homered late on Friday and stressed that the Red Sox needed better at-bats the following night. Verdugo pulled a 3-1 fastball to right in the first and 3-2 changeup off the plate in the second, a play he nearly got caught out on, before he launched the changeup he saw later off the bat at 106 miles per hour. 

Nick Pivetta: Had a bounce-back night after he allowed four runs in two innings in last Friday's loss to the Dodgers, eating three innings to earn a save while striking out five Royals. Kansas City had pulled within 9-4 in the sixth inning, and Pivetta retired the next six hitters on only 23 pitches. MJ Melendez took his first pitch in the ninth 404 feet, rekindling his dominance from earlier in the season against Boston, but he recovered by striking out the next two hitters and closing the game two batters later. 

ONE DOWN 

Tanner Houck: Threw 65% of his 95 pitches for strikes in his first extended effort since his injury, a good enough start with a massive lead working around baserunners in each inning he appeared. He also hit three batters, allowed two doubles and a run ahead 3-0 in the second inning, then another double in the third. The height of his night came in the fourth, striking out two Royals across 15 pitches to begin the inning, then downing Nelson Velazquez on four pitches with a runner in scoring position. Two Royals reached on him in the fifth and singles by Michael Massey and Drew Waters in the sixth marked the beginning of the end of his night. Honorable mention: Josh Wincowski hasn't fared great in the clean-up role, letting three runs cross that went charged to Houck. 

NOTABLE 

LHP Brennan Bernardino rejoined the Red Sox in Kansas City today and will be activated for tomorrow's series finale.

OF Ceddanne Rafaela struck out in the ninth inning after entering as a defensive substitution for Masataka Yoshida. IF Enmanuel Valdez hit a 2 RBI single in a spot appearance at 2B, his first major league start since June 7. 

UP NEXT

Saturday at Royals at 2:10 p.m., TBD vs. LHP Chris Sale (5-3, 4.75 ERA)