Red Sox offense comes up empty late as Royals hand Boston third straight loss

The Red Sox have stumbled through stretches at Fenway Park throughout the season. With October approaching, those problems have resurfaced at a particularly bad time. 

Boston fell behind by three runs early on Friday night and couldn't complete the comeback, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in a 3-2 loss to the last-place Royals at Fenway Park. 

The Sox have lost three straight, five of their last seven at home and are 7-9 in their last 16 games. At 80-66 overall, Boston also slipped back below .500 at Fenway at 36-37. 

Throughout the night, Boston had opportunities to cash in and score but ultimately came up short. 

Boston collected eight hits and put the tying run in scoring position in the eighth, but managed just two runs against Seth Lugo and a relatively inexperienced Kansas City bullpen.

Before the offense had a chance to get going, Sonny Gray spent the opening innings getting hit harder than he has in quite some time.

Carter Jensen opened the game by ripping a 110 mph double to center and scored two outs later when Salvador Perez lined a 103.9 mph single down the third-base line.

Kansas City added on in the third inning. 

Isaac Collins led off with a 103.2 mph ground-rule double before Jensen hammered another double, this one at 102.6 mph off the Green Monster, to make it 2-0. Vinnie Pasquantino followed with a 102.4 mph RBI single for a three-run advantage.

The Royals hit eight balls at 102.4 mph or harder against Gray, per Statcast.

“They were very aggressive on him early in counts those first two or three innings,” said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy. “A lot of swings early in the count, jumping him quick, he settled in after that and was pretty good, but they were able to get some damage on him.”

Somehow, Gray turned what initially looked like it could become one of his worst starts of the season into his 18th quality start.

He settled down after the third, retiring seven consecutive batters from the fourth into the sixth before escaping one final jam. Gray finished with three runs allowed on six hits and two walks while striking out five over six innings.

“They were all first pitch, second pitch, first pitch, first pitch, and those pitches were where I wanted to throw them, just they came out very, very aggressive and that was the first three innings,” Gray said. “I made the adjustment after that but unfortunately tonight it was too late.”

The loss dropped Gray to 17-5 and significantly reduced his chances of reaching 20 wins for the first time in his career. With 14 regular-season games remaining, he’s likely to make only two more starts as Boston prepares its rotation for the Wild Card round.

Gray remains tied for the major league lead in wins with Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez and leads the American League, three ahead of Tampa Bay’s Nick Martinez.

Gray’s loss snapped a 10-game winning streak against Kansas City dating to 2016, tied for the third-longest by an opposing pitcher in Royals history.

Despite the loss, Gray recorded his team-leading 18th quality start, tied for second-most in the American League. He has pitched at least six innings in 20 of his 27 starts this season.

The veteran remains the favorite to