Final: Royals 2, Red Sox 1 (F/12) - Royals walk it off in 12th inning

The Boston Red Sox lose their first game of their series against the Kansas City Royals in a 12 inning bullpen battle.

Neither team scored a run in the first 10 innings of the game as both starters in this contest had strong performances on the mound. 

Taking over for the injured Walker Buehler, Hunter Dobbins pitched 6.0 innings striking out six Royal batters and only allowing five hits. He was able to command the strike zone with his fastball that topped out at 98 MPH and struck out Kansas City's star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. twice.

On the opposite side, Michael Lorenzen pitched 7.0 innings striking out seven batters and allowing only three hits in his start. 

After the 7th inning, both teams relied on their bullpen to keep the strong pitching going. The Red Sox started out with Greg Weissert in the 7th and then turned to Justin Wilson and Justin Slaten in the 8th and 9th which brought the games into extra innings.

On the opposite side, the Red Sox really had no chances in regular innings to get on the board. The Royals had more chances becoming the only team to reach third base in the first 9 innings.

In extras, Aroldis Chapman had a scoreless outing in the 10th inning striking out two batters. However, the Red Sox went hitless.

Boston ended up getting the first run of the game in the 11th inning with an RBI from Rafael Devers which brought the ghost runner home from third base.

With the Red Sox needing three outs to come away with the win, Vinnie Pasquantino tied the game with an RBI single against Garrett Whitlock bringing the game to another inning.

In the 12th, the Red Sox yet again went 1-2-3 at the plate, and they turned to Sean Newcomb to prevent the Royals from winning the game. After recording the first out, Freddie Fermin lined a hit into the gap sending home the ghost runner and giving the Royals the walk-off victory.

Just another frustrating game at the plate for Boston in a game where they received incredible pitching support from their bullpen and spot starter. Another impressive start for Dobbins, but it unfortunately goes to waste.

Tomorrow, the Red Sox play at 7:10 p.m. with Crochet taking the mound. 

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WHO: Red Sox (20-19) vs Royals (23-16)
WHEN: 7:40 p.m.
WHERE: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
SERIES TO DATE: (0-0), (0-0)
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Hunter Dobbins (2-1, 3.78 ERA) vs. RHP Michael Lorenzen (3-3, 4.23 ERA)
TV/RADIO: NESN, MLB Network, WEEI-FM 93.7

LINEUPS

RED SOX

Jarren Duran (L) LF
Rafael Devers (L) DH
Alex Bregman (R) 3B
Kristian Campbell (R) 2B
Wilyer Abreu (L) RF
Trevor Story (R) SS
Abraham Toro (S) 1B
Connor Wong (R) C
Ceddanne Rafaela (R) CF

SP Hunter Dobbins

ROYALS

Jonathan India (R) LF
Bobby Witt Jr. (R) SS
Vinnie Pasquantino (L) DH
Salvador Perez (R) 1B
Maikel Garcia (R) 3B
Michael Massey (L) 2B
Mark Canha (R) RF
Freddy Fermin (R) C
Kyle Isbel (L) CF

SP Michael Lorenzen

WHAT'S UP

The Red Sox will play their first game of the season against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium with Hunter Dobbins taking the mound in game one. Dobbins (2-1, 3.78 ERA) will make his fourth career start.

Romy Gonzalez will miss another game after his collision in Wednesday's game against the Rangers. Abraham Toro will get another start at first base.

Per Chris Cotillo of MassLive: "John Henry, Sam Kennedy and Craig Breslow flew to Kansas City today. Henry met with Rafael Devers 1-on-1 about his comments yesterday."

John Henry said that the meeting was "productive" but didn't speak the media after.