Somehow it was the Red Sox who scored first in the top of the first inning against Renko. Wade Boggs singled but Dwight Evans grounded into a double play. Jim Rice walked before Tony Armas singled. Carl Yastrzemski singled home Rice but Armas got greedy and tried for home, getting thrown out by a mile to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0. Ironically it would be the last time the Sox would score today.
John Tudor got the ball in the bottom of the first and Willie Wilson whiffed to begin. UL Washington and George Brett both flied out to right to end the inning.
Renko settled down in the top of the second inning and Dave Stapleton hit one up the elevator shaft to start. Rich Gedman struck out before Glenn Hoffman grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Amos Otis began the bottom of the second by striking out before Hal McRae lined out to center. Frank White hit a routine grounder to Hoffman who decided to wrestle with it for an error. Willie Aikens struck out to end the inning.
Julio Valdez flied out to center to begin the top of the third inning before Boggs grounded out to short. Evans reached on an error by Washington but Rice lined out to left to end the inning. Tudor stayed tough in the bottom of the third although Jerry Martin singled to start. John Wathan bunted Martin to second and Martin moved to third on the grounder by Wilson. Washington walked but Tudor struck out Brett to end the inning.
The Sox failed to score in the top of the fourth inning as Armas flied out to center to start. Yaz singled but was erased on the Stapleton force. Gedman singled but Hoffman popped up to second to end the inning. The Royals tied the game in the bottom of the fourth as Otis and McRae hit back to back singles to start. White banged into a double play but Otis moved to third, scoring on a wild pitch by Tudor. Aikens struck out to end the inning and Tudor was kicking himself for that one.
The Sox blew their chance to do some damage in the top of the fifth inning. Valdez walked and Boggs singled but Evans erased Boggs at second. Rice walked to load the bases but Armas banged into a double play to end the inning. Tudor tried to keep it tied in the bottom of the fifth as Martin flied out to left to begin. Wathan popped up to first and Wilson hit a routine grounder to second....for some reason Valdez dove on the ball and dryland swam with it for an error. Washington lined out to right to end the inning.
The Sox blew another chance in the top of the sixth although Yaz grounded to first to start. Stapleton popped up to first but Gedman walked. Hoffman singled and Sox manager Ralph Houk had seen enough of Valdez after that puzzling error. Rick Miller pinch hit for Valdez only to ground out to second to end the inning. Marty Barrett took over at second in the bottom of the sixth and Brett started it with a single. Otis popped up to second before McRae flied out to right. White singled before Aikens popped up to second to end the inning.
Mike Armstrong took over for Renko in the top of the seventh and Boggs greeted him with a base hit. He was stranded as Evans flied out to center but Rice walked. Once again Armas banged into a double play to end the inning. Tudor came back for the bottom of the seventh and Martin grounded out to short to begin. Wathan flied out to left but Wilson singled and stole second. Washington grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the eighth as Yaz flied out to center, Stapleton popped up to short and Gedman grounded back to the mound to end the inning. The Royals put the game away in the bottom of the eighth when Brett doubled to begin. Otis popped up to first but McRae was intentionally walked. White made the Sox pay with a single to score Brett. Don Slaught pinch hit for Aikens and walked to load the bases, chasing Tudor from the game. Luis Aponte came in and poured gas on the fire. Martin singled home McRae and white before Wathan singled to reload the bases. Wilson walked to score another run before Washington struck out. Martin was picked off third to end the inning but it was 5-1 Royals.
Dan Quisenberry had mop up duty in the top of the ninth and Hoffman flied out to center. Reid Nichols pinch hit for Barrett and grounded out to short. Boggs grounded back to the mound to end it. The Royals had won 5-1 and sent the Sox to their fourth straight loss.
Jackass of the Night is Luis Aponte. He turned a 2-1 deficit into an out of reach 5-1 defeat.
The Good:
Wade Boggs was 3 for 5
Jim Rice walked 3 times and scored a run.
Carl Yastrzemski was 2 for 4 with an rbi.
Rich Gedman was 1 for 3 with a walk.
The Bad:
Dwight Evans was 0 for 4.
Dave Stapleton was 0 for 4.
Rick Miller was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Reid Nichols was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Tony Armas was just 1 for 4.
Glen Hoffman was just 1 for 4.
Julio Valdez was 0 for 1 with an error but walked.
John Tudor took the loss but pitched great until running out of gas in the 8th inning. He went 7 1/3 and was charged for all 5 runs even though Aponte allowed the last three.
Honorable Mention:
Marty Barrett played second base from the 6th inning on.
Final Thoughts:
Wow, what happened to the offense? The Sox have arguably one of the best lineups in baseball with sluggers such as Rice and Armas with contact hitters Evans, Boggs and Yaz. I understand once in a while but the offense has been anemic most of the season already. Granted its only April and they have plenty of time to bounce back but they have lost 5 of their first 7 games, that's not good. Tudor running out of gas didn't help but Aponte blowing it was worse. Who knows what would have happened if it was a one run game in the 8th or 9th. Tomorrow the Sox turn to Mike Brown to take on Paul Splittorff at 8:30 Eastern time at Royals Stadium.
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