Duffy got the ball in the top of the first inning and Mr. Mookie Betts drew a lead off walk. Andrew Benintendi struck out swinging before Xander Bogaerts lined out to short. JD Martinez flied out to center to end the inning. Weber got the ball in the bottom of the first and Whit Merrifield flied out to right to start. Adalberto Mondesi whiffed but Alex Gordon singled. Jorge Soler grounded into a force to end the inning.
Rafael Devers drew a leadoff walk to begin the top of the second inning but Christian Vazquez lined out to right. Devers was erased on the Michael Chavis force before Eduardo Nunez lined one off the leg of Duffy. Duffy went down but made the play at first to end the inning. The Royals struck first in the bottom of the second inning although Ryan O'Hearn grounded back to the mound to start. The immortal Chester Cuthbert smashed a 1,500,000 foot bomb halfway to St. Louis to give the Royals the lead. Nicky Lopez and Cam Gallagher stroked back to back singles before Billy Hamilton doubled home Lopez to increase the lead. That was it for Weber as Sox manager Alex Cora had seen enough. After his good start against Toronto, Weber crashed down to Earth in the last two games. Colten Brewer came in and struck out Merrifield before Mondesi flied out to center to end the inning with the Royals up 2-0.
The Sox exploded in the top of the third inning and it began with Jackie Bradley Jr getting plunked. Mr. Mookie homered 3 times against the Royals last year and he got Duffy again for his 10th home run of the year to tie the game. Benintendi singled but Bogaerts took strike three. Martinez doubled and Devers singled both men home to give the Sox the lead. That was it for Duffy as Brian Flynn came in to get Vazquez to ground into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-2.
Brewer cruised in the bottom of the third as Gordon whiffed to start. Soler grounded out to short before O'Hearn grounded out to short to end the inning.
Chavis whiffed to start the top of the fourth but Nunez singled to center. Nunez swiped second but JBJ watched strike three go by. Mr. Mookie drew a walk but Benintendi grounded into a force to end the inning. The Royals threatened in the bottom of the fourth as Cuthbert singled to center to begin before moving to second on the Lopez force. Gallagher walked and Hamilton beat out an infield single to load the bases. That was it for Brewer as Marcus Walden came in and got Merrifield to fly out to right, holding Cuthbert at third. Mondesi whiffed to end the inning with the lead intact.
Bogaerts singled to left to start the top of the fifth but all of a sudden Martinez keeled over and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital with back spasms. Sam Travis pinch hit for JD and banged into a double play to end the rally. Devers grounded out to short to end the inning. Gordon whiffed to start the bottom of the fifth but Soler crushed a 500,000 foot home run to cut the lead. O'Hearn lined out to short and Cuthbert grounded out to third to end the inning but it was 4-3 Sox.
The Sox threatened in the top of the sixth but Vazquez grounded out to first to start. Chavis whiffed but Nunez singled to right. JBJ walked and Scott Barlow came in to face Betts. Mr. Mookie flied out to left to end the inning. Ryan Brasier came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Lopez lined out to center to start. Gallagher singled to right but Hamilton whiffed. Merrifield singled to left and a wild pitch moved both runners over, however Mondesi whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox iced the game in the top of the seventh although Benintendi whiffed to start. Bogaerts walked but stole second on the Travis strikeout. Devers was intentionally walked and Vazquez made the Royals pay with a bases clearing triple into the gap. A wild pitch scored Vazquez and although Chavis whiffed to end the inning, the Sox were up 7-3.
Josh Taylor came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and the Royals pounced as Gordon blasted a 27,900,999 foot home run into the Baltic Sea to start. Soler grounded out to short, O'Hearn whiffed and Cuthbert flied out to right to end the inning but the Sox were up 7-4.
Kevin McCarthy came in for the top of the eighth and Nunez greeted him with a base hit to left to start. JBJ grounded back to the mound but Nunez moved to second. Mr. Mookie lined out to left and Benintendi popped up to left to end the inning. Taylor returned for the bottom of the eighth and Lopez greeted him with a double to chase him. Heath Hembree came in and Lopez easily swiped third but he stayed there on the Gallagher line out to right. Hamilton popped up to third and Merrifield whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox beat the ball in the dirt in the top of the ninth as Bogaerts grounded out to third to start. Travis grounded out to short and Devers also grounded out to short to end the inning. Matt Barnes came in to close out the bottom of the ninth and Mondesi grounded out to first to start. Gordon singled and Soler doubled him home to bring the tying run to the plate. Barnes bore down and whiffed both O'Hearn and Cuthbert to end the game. The Sox had held on to win 7-5.
Hero of the Night is Mookie Betts. He got the rally started with a two run homer in the top of the third and the Sox never looked back.
The Good:
JD Martinez was 1 for 2 with a run scored before leaving the game.
Rafael Devers was 1 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 rbis and a run scored.
Eduardo Nunez was 3 for 4.
Jackie Bradley Jr walked, was hit with a pitch and scored a run in 4 plate appearances.
Colten Brewer got the win with 2 scoreless innings.
Ryan Brasier pitched a scoreless 6th inning.
Heath Hembree pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
The Bad:
Sam Travis was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Michael Chavis was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Ryan Weber was hammered for 2 runs in just 1 1/3 innings.
Josh Taylor gave up a run in an inning of work.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was just 1 for 5 but scored a run.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 but drove in 2 runs and scored.
Marcus Walden allowed a run in 1 2/3 innings of work.
Matt Barnes allowed a run in the 9th but earned his 4th save of the season
Final Thoughts:
Yippie, the Sox swept a terrible team. Too bad they can't beat the good teams or else they wouldn't be 7 games out of first place. Still, 3 wins in a row are still 3 wins in a row and its nice to see the Sox put some distance between them and .500 for once. Its too bad Ryan Weber crapped his pants but it was good to see the Sox rally to win the game. Kudos to the bullpen for keeping it close and nice to see Betts step up to lead the charge, like he did for most of the season last year. Can the Sox finally ride this momentum back into the AL East race? The win improved the Sox to 33-29, 6.5 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox come home for a big 3 game set against the second place Tampa Bay Rays. "Slick" Rick Porcello (4-5, 4.76 ERA) goes for the Sox against Yonny Chirinos at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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