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 get the ball for Boston in Game 1 of the postseason, which likely appears to be against the Yankees in the Bronx. 

The Red Sox finally got to Lugo in the fifth inning when Mickey Gasper snapped an 0-for-14 skid by launching a solo homer into the Boston bullpen, his ninth home run in 21 games since Aug. 17. Gasper now ranks sixth on the team in home runs.

Adley Rutschman followed with a walk and scored when Wilyer Abreu drove a double high off the Green Monster, cutting Kansas City’s lead to 3-2.

Abreu recorded his 40th multi-hit game of the season, one shy of Ceddanne Rafaela for the team lead. He is batting .293 with a .982 OPS over his last 36 games dating to Aug. 2.

Lugo escaped without further damage and finished with seven strikeouts over five innings.

From there, the Royals bullpen took over and left the Sox offense looking for answers. 

Nolan Hoffman, making his ninth major league appearance, and Connor Thomas, appearing in his 14th, combined for perfect sixth and seventh innings on just 24 pitches.

The Red Sox had their best opportunity to tie the game it in the eighth inning. 

Trevor Story ripped a 105 mph line drive high off the Green Monster and aggressively went for second. The throw beat him to the bag, but Story pulled off a terrific slide to avoid the tag, with replay confirming he was safe. The drive would have been a home run in 20 of 30 major league ballparks.

“Just got Monstered a little bit, but that’s baseball,” Story said. “Same with Sogie’s, that’s probably a homer in a lot of other parks but it was kind of bad luck tonight when it was our turn.”

Story has hit safely in 10 of 11 games since returning from the 60-day injured list Aug. 30, batting .333 (15-for-45) with six doubles, four RBI and an .800 OPS.

Nick Sogard then sent a deep fly ball to right that would have left 15 other major league parks. At Fenway, it became an out, though Story advanced to third but Caleb Durbin was unable to bring him home. Durbin struck out chasing a pitch in the dirt to end the threat.

“They kind of kept us off balance all night, especially in those situations,” Story said after the game. “One where we felt like we had them on the ropes and he made the pitches, and we didn’t get it done.”

Boston’s bullpen did its part, stranding runners in scoring position in the seventh, eighth and ninth to keep the deficit at one.

Steven Cruz needed only 10 pitches to retire Jarren Duran, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Roman Anthony in order in the ninth, striking out Anthony to finish it.

Overall, Boston went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight. The Red Sox struck out 10 times, walked twice and had only three extra-base hits.

“It’s not for lack of baserunners, we are still creating opportunities, we’re getting people on base, and you go through that sometimes,” Tracy said. “We’re in one of those right now, we’re creating opportunities but not taking advantage of them, but we will.”

Duran did move closer to an individual milestone. He stole second in the fourth for his 19th stolen base and is now one away from his second career 20-homer, 20-steal season. 

The Red Sox will now need to reverse a troubling trend at Fenway. They’ve lost five of their last seven at home against three teams well below .500, and a loss either Saturday or Sunday would give them a third consecutive home series defeat.

Boston will send Ranger Suarez (6-4, 3.44 ERA) to the mound Saturday at 4:10 p.m. against Kansas City right-hander Randy Dobnak (3-3, 2.54).

Contreras, Houck Continue Rehab

Tanner Houck made his second rehab appearance with Double-A Portland on Friday, allowing one run on one hit and a walk while striking out four over three innings. He threw 48 pitches, 28 for strikes, with the lone run scoring on a double steal in the sixth.

Willson Contreras also began his rehab assignment and went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Contreras is scheduled to play first base for Portland on Saturday, after which the Red Sox will determine whether he’s ready to be activated Sunday.