Boston (62-67, 32-38 home) beat Kansas City (56-71, 30-38 away) 5-1 this afternoon at Fenway Park to complete a 3-4 homestand. The Red Sox actually took three of four from the Royals, it would have been a sweep if they could have held a six-run lead in the seventh but I digress.
Dice-K (1-3) looked like a decent pitcher for a fleeting moment as he went seven innings, allowing one run (0 earned) on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks. It marked his first victory since May 8, 2011 (vs. Minnesota) and believe it or not, it was over in 2 hours and 34 minutes. I love how MLB games go by so much faster when teams are facing long road trips afterwards, I wish they always played with that pace and urgency.
Alex Gordon (2 hits, double) provided Kansas City's only run with a sacrifice fly in the first that scored Jarrod Dyson. Johnny Giavotella also had two hits including a double but the Royals only managed seven hits against Matsuzaka, Clayton Mortensen, Vicente Padilla and Andrew Bailey.
Haha Boston went 3 for 4 with runners in scoring position while Kansas City was 0 for 7. Remind me again when the Royals are supposed to be good? I feel like I've read the same story for the last five years, oh this is the team that's going to be a winner. They have so much young talent! Yeah ok.
Hitting out of the third spot in the lineup, Jacoby Ellsbury cranked a solo homer (2nd of the season) in the first against Luke Hochevar (7-12). Cody Ross, who has done more than enough to earn an extension, had a two-run single in the third and a wall ball RBI double in the sixth. James Loney notched his second RBI single in as many days, also in the sixth to make it 5-1.
Boston hopped on a plane to visit the West Coast. They play three in Anaheim, three in Oakland and three in Seattle. The Angels and A's are in contention for a playoff spot while the Mariners have the exact same record as the Red Sox. Boston won't play at Fenway again until Friday, September 7 vs. Toronto (ie. 2 days before the Patriots-Titans season-opener).
There are going to be some late nights coming up for insomniac Red Sox fans like myself. Six of the nine games begin at 10:05 p.m. ET, one 9:05 p.m., one 4:05 p.m. and one 4:10 p.m.
The Angels (66-62, AL West) swept a three-game series in Boston last week. Let's see if the Red Sox can return the favor (haha doubtful). Tomorrow night in the series opener (10:05 p.m., NESN), Clay Buchholz (11-4) has a rematch with Jered Weaver (16-3), who soundly outperformed him the first time. Jon Lester (8-10) faces C.J. Wilson (9-9) on Wednesday night (10:05 p.m., NESN) in a battle of underachieving quality lefties. Then Aaron Cook (3-7) meets Zach Greinke (11-5) on Thursday night (10:05 p.m., NESN) in the finale.
UPDATE 8/28: Alfredo Aceves was activated tonight after his suspension, he took Franklin Morales' place on the roster. Morales went on the DL with a tired shoulder. Who knew that would happen to a guy when they've changed his role multiple times in the same season?
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