Pete Grathoff
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Shortstop Nicky Lopez took a clumsy swing at a slider and missed within the fourth inning of the Royals’ 7-4 loss to the Red Sox on Friday evening.
Lopez, pissed off by a known as strike on what he thought was ball 4 on the earlier pitch, slammed his bat to the bottom, and the scene summed up a irritating evening for the Royals.
Kansas City (42-65) was 2 for 12 with runners in scoring place, together with Lopez’s strikeout with the bases loaded, which adopted Kyle Isbel hitting right into a pressure out on the plate.
Lopez struck out once more with the bases juiced within the eighth inning. But MJ Melendez, enjoying in left area Friday, adopted with a two-run double as a part of a three-run body.
That obtained the Royals inside placing distance, however they went down quietly within the ninth inning and in the end fell brief.
The Red Sox (54-54) pounded out 13 hits, drew 5 walks and took benefit of some shoddy Royals protection.
Well, at the least the introduced crowd of 21,246 went dwelling joyful due to a fireworks show.
Royals starter Zack Greinke gave up 4 runs on seven hits with a pair of walks and two strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. The bullpen didn’t present a lot reduction on a day when there was a 100-degree warmth index at first pitch.
Reliever Josh Staumont struggled probably the most, giving up two runs on successful and two walks whereas getting only one out within the eighth inning. Just 4 of his 16 pitches had been strikes.
A shiny spot for the Royals was a mammoth fifth-inning dwelling run by catcher Salvador Perez. It was a 454-foot shot to left area, the longest homer of the season for the Royals.
The dwelling run, which had an exit velocity of 112.4 mph was Perez’s fifth in eight video games since coming off the injured record due to a thumb ligament damage.
The 10 starters for the Royals (9 batters and Greinke) had been all drafted or initially signed by the staff. Just the third time in franchise historical past there was such a sport.
The different instances had been Sept. 19, 1990 and July 29 of this yr at Yankee Stadium. The Royals misplaced these video games, too.
Red Sox first baseman Eric Hosmer, the previous Royals star, lined an RBI double to proper within the second inning to open the scoring. It was his first profession hit versus the Royals, and he now has successful in opposition to all 30 MLB groups.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com