Today will go down as one of the most predictable games of the 2021 season for the Red Sox (51-31 overall, 27-17 home). In the finale of their seven-game homestand, they flat out embarrassed the Royals (33-47 overall, 15-28 away) 15-1 this afternoon at Fenway Park. Kansas City has been on the road for the past 10 games (which must feel like forever) so it was no surprise that they laid down and got swept in the four-game series by the Red Sox who have won seven straight games. Boston racked up 17 hits as every batter with a plate appearance had at least one hit which sent the Royals to their ninth loss in a row. Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi (7 IP, 5 hits, 0 ERs, 6 Ks, 0 BBs) pitched seven scoreless innings that only took 84 pitches as KC clearly couldn't get out of town fast enough.
Boston hit four home runs, starting with second baseman Kike Hernandez who had a leadoff homer (his 9th HR of the season) over the Green Monster for the third time in the past five contests. Left fielder (not a misprint) J.D. Martinez followed with a solo home run of his own (his 17th of the season) in the fourth inning to straightaway center field and first baseman Danny Santana added a three-run bomb to right center (his 3rd of the season) later in the frame for a 5-0 lead. Boston scored four more runs in the fifth inning on a two-run single by first-time All-Star third baseman Rafael Devers that scored Martinez and center fielder Alex Verdugo; Devers scored on an infield single by Santana and right fielder Hunter Renfroe came home on a balk by Kansas City reliever Ervin Santana.
Devers crushed a three-run home run (his 20th of the season) in the sixth inning that scored Martinez and DH (for the day)/All-Star Xander Bogaerts. Pinch hitter Michael Chavis' sacrifice fly scored shortstop Marwin Gonzalez (3-for-4) in the seventh inning. The final two runs for the Sox came in the eighth inning as Gonzalez's RBI single plated Devers and Santana's fantastic day at the plate concluded with an RBI double that scored Renfroe. Boston was this close to a recording an elusive shutout but sadly Royals center fielder Jarrod Dyson had other plans as he drove in left fielder Ryan O'Hearn in the ninth inning.
Everything came up Red Sox today as they beat the rain and flew out to California tonight at a reasonable hour. They will be celebrating July 4th this weekend in Oakland (48-35 overall, 26-20 home). It's a three-game set between two of the best teams in the American League so it should be very entertaining. Tomorrow night (9:40, NESN), Eduardo Rodriguez (6-4) takes on Frankie Montas (7-7); on Saturday night (7:15, FOX) in front of a national TV audience, Garrett Richards (4-5) faces lefty Cole Irvin (6-7), what could possibly go wrong there?; finally, on the afternoon (4:07, NESN) of July 4th, Nick Pivetta (6-3) opposes James Kaprielian (4-2). The heatwave is over in New England but the forecast for the next few days looks sketchy with plenty of rain so settle in for a possible playoff preview type of series against a quality opponent in a place where Boston typically struggles.
No comments:
Post a Comment