Final: Red Sox 9, Kansas City Royals 5 - Red Sox collect 18 hits in win against Royals

Trevor's Game Notes:

Hits, Hits, and More Hits: The Red Sox defeat the Royals in game 1 of their series in Kansas City. Every hitter in Boston's lineup managed to record a hit, tallying 18 total in the game. The majority of these hits came off Royals Starter Brady Singer. In the first 2 innings, the Red Sox recorded 5 singles, taking an early 2-0 lead in the game. Kansas City would tie the game in the 4th, but Boston continued their constant hitting in this game. In the 6th inning, Jarren Duran cleared the bases with a 2-run RBI double against Left-handed Reliever Angel Zepra putting the game 4-2.. Zepra would go another inning for the Royals, and Boston took advantage adding 4 more runs to their lead. Connor Wong started the inning with an RBI double that barely went over the left field line, and Rafael Devers would score from 3rd on a wild pitch. Romy Gonzalez pinched hit for Dom Smith and slammed  a 425 foot 2-run bomb for Boston's only home run of the game. 

Great Win: This was a great overall win for the Red Sox in a series they desperately need to win. James Paxton had a great outing only allowing 2 runs in 6 innings pitched. His outing could've easily been scoreless if it wasn't for a few miscues on defense. Despite no RBI's, Masataka Yoshida was a huge contributor in this game recording 4 hits with 2 doubles. Ceddanne Rafaela also made possibly the catch of the year in center field after making a tough read to the baseball.

The Red Sox will continue their series with Kansas City tomorrow at 8:10 p.m. with Brayan Bello on the mound. 

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WHO: Red Sox (59-51) at Kansas City Royals (63-50)
WHEN: 8:10 p.m.
WHERE: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
SERIES TO DATE: 2-1 (2-1/0-0)
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP James Paxton (8-3, 4.52) vs. RHP Brady Singer (8-6, 2.88)
TV/RADIO: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7

LIVE BOX

LINEUPS

RED SOX

Jarren Duran (L) LF
Wilyer Abreu (L) RF
Masataka Yoshida (L) DH
Rafael Devers (L) 3B
Connor Wong (R) C
Dominic Smith (L) 1B
Nick Sogard (S) 2B
David Hamilton (L) SS
Ceddanne Rafaela (R) CF

SP James Paxton

ROYALS

Maikel Garcia (R) 3B
Bobby Witt Jr. (R) SS
Vinnie Pasquantino (L) 1B
Salvador Perez (R) C
Hunter Renfroe (R) RF
Michael Massey (L) 2B
Freddy Fermin (R) DH
Garrett Hampson (R) LF
Kyle Isbel (L) CF

SP Brady Singer

WHAT'S UP

The Red Sox are 4-2 in their last 6 games, after going 2-7 in their previous 9, following the All-Star break. 

Boston defeated the Texas Ranger 7-2 with Wilyer Abreu hitting 2 home runs along with solo home runs from Jarren Duran and David Hamilton.

Boston is 32-23 (.582) on the road, MLB's 3rd-best record behind NYY (38-22) and BAL (33-21).

Alex Cora is only 1 victory shy of becoming the 4th manager to reach 500 wins with the Red Sox (see box on right).

The Royals currently hold down the third and final wild card spot in the American League, with the Red Sox 2.5 games behind them. In the first of three tonight at Kauffman Stadium, the Red Sox will have a pretty standard lineup. One slight change: it will be David Hamilton getting the start at shortstop, with recent call-up Nick Sogard getting his third start in the last four games, this time at second base.

Boston leads MLB in doubles (223). The Sox rank 2nd in hits (1,005), triples (28), XBH (391), AVG (.262), and SLG (.444), while ranking 3rd in OPS (.772) and 5th in OBP (.328).