The Red Sox knew they had some work to do entering a pivotal August series in Kansas City.
Boston entered its three-game set against the only team standing between them and a wild card spot with (finally) some momentum after taking a series with Seattle through the trade deadline and two of three against the defending champs in Texas.
Needing to make up 2 1/2 games to leap frog the Royals into the American League playoff picture, the Sox went to work.
A 9-5 series-opening victory was the result after Boston turned in a fairly complete performance that was keyed by a big inning and a bounce-back start.
We’ll start with James Paxton, who wasn’t overly sharp in his re-debut with the Sox last Tuesday against the Mariners. This time around, “Big Maple” looked the part of a veteran pitcher who was brought in to stabilize a weary rotation.
Paxton limited the Royals to a Bobby Witt Jr. RBI single in the third inning and a Freddy Fermin game-tying infield single in the fourth, tossing six innings with five hits allowed and only one free pass permitted for the second straight start.
“It’s great, I felt good out there,” Paxton told reporters. “To have him (Alex Cora) have that confidence in me and let me go, it was awesome.”
The successful outing featured a tweak in pitch mix for the 35-year-old left-hander, who pounded his knuckle curve like never before — he threw the pitch 46 percent of the time to offset the fastball he usually relies on.
James Paxton, Filthy 82mph Knuckle Curve. 😷 pic.twitter.com/2Fvgj4svuX
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 6, 2024
It’s a savvy move for Paxton (and perhaps another Andrew Bailey innovation?) considering his fastball doesn’t have the same zip anymore and usually sits in the low 90s. He also threw his sinker more than usual, and the combo of two downward-spinning pitches produced favorable results.
“I’m mostly fastball-curveball, we flipped in a couple changeups there late. Wonger did a great job behind the plate with the buttons,” Paxton said. “You know, mixed and used curveball and it was working and buried some and just made pitches with the fastball, too.”
Boston’s bats chipped away at Brady Singer early as speedster David Hamilton doubled in the game’s first run in the second before Jarren Duran’s ensuing groundout made it 2-0.
After Kansas City leveled the playing field by doing the same against Paxton, it was Duran who put the Sox back in front with a clutch two-out, two-run double in the sixth to make it a 4-2 game.
Jarren Duran is inevitable. pic.twitter.com/erA8lHbEbs
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 6, 2024
It was the only hit Duran would muster on the night, but it’s still a stark contrast to the last memory I had of him in Kansas City — barking at fans and needing to be held back by Alex Verdugo after misplaying a pair of fly balls two years ago.
I’d imagine there weren’t many Royals fans chirping the reigning All-Star Game MVP this time around…
Duran’s hit was a big one, but it was Boston’s seventh-inning outburst that made the difference.
A Connor Wong two-run double, a wild pitch that allowed Rafael Devers to scamper home and an absolute monster of a pinch-hit home run by Romy Gonzalez — a career-long 452-foot behemoth blast.
Romy Gonzalez crushes a 452-foot pinch-hit blast!
— MLB (@MLB) August 6, 2024
(MLB x @Budweiserusa) pic.twitter.com/QilwgoGQtS
KC added a pair of RBI doubles in the seventh (but Wong got one back on an RBI single in the eighth) and a Vinnie Pasquantino solo bomb in the ninth, but the damage hat been done. And when all was said and done, the Sox had put up nine runs on 18 hits.
“We hit the ball all over the place, we ran the bases well … we just kept putting pressure on them,” Cora said. “They (the Royals) gonna keep fighting, they have a good team. It took a lot.”
Oh, and Ceddanne Rafaela is Superman. But you already knew that…
The 23-year-old superhuman — who called center field home in this one — made a catch on a deep fly by Maikel Garcia that can only be described as Willie Mays-esque with a little Ken Griffey Jr. flair.
I’m not sure there’s been a Red Sox player in my lifetime this good at two different positions. Rafaela is a human highlight reel. pic.twitter.com/xxnEKhc2JB
— Matt McCarthy (@MattMcCarthy985) August 6, 2024
Rafaela also contributed a pair of hits to the hit party and a run scored out of the nine hole.
“I think (we were) not trying to do too much, keep passing the baton,” Rafaela told the NESN broadcast postgame. “I think that’s huge for us as a team. When we do that, we (usually) have good games.”
Now the Red Sox are 60-51 with wins in five of their last seven games after dropping seven of nine out of the break. Boston is 1 1/2 games back of KC and three games up on Tampa Bay. Not to mention, the AL East is still in play too… only six games out.
Just keep winnin’…
Gethin Coolbaugh is a columnist for Boston Sports Journal. Follow him @GethinCoolbaugh on X/Twitter.