Rodriguez took the mound in the top of the first inning and Paulo Orlando led off by grounding out to short to start. Cheslor Cuthbert hit a weak grounder to Travis Shaw at third but he couldn't make the play at first. Lorenzo Cain popped up to Mookie Betts before Eric Hosmer drew a walk. Kendrys Morales popped up to right to end the inning. Yordano Ventura got the start for the Royals and Brock "The Hitman" Holt greeted him by dumping a base hit to left to begin. Xander Bogaerts hit a bullet but right to Cain in right. David Ortiz banged into a double play to end the inning.
Salvador Perez led off the top of the second by launching a home run off the left field foul pole to give the Royals the lead. Alex Gordon ripped a slider between first and second for a base hit before Alcedis Escobar drew a walk as the boo birds came out. Raul Mondesi Jr dropped down a bunt to move the runners over and Orlando hit a bullet to center that scored Gordon and sent Escobar to third. Cuthbert swung and missed at a high fastball for strike three to end the inning but the Royals were up 2-0.
Mr. Mookie led off the bottom of the second by lining a base hit off second base to start. Hanley Ramirez banged into a double play but Shaw drew a walk. Chris Young beat out an infield single to third before Sandy Leon popped up to left to end the inning.
Cain led off the top of the third by grounding out to third to start. Hosmer grounded back to E-Rod on the first pitch he saw and Morales lined one off the leg of E-Rod. Rodriguez hurried the throw to first but Ramirez couldn't scoop it for an error. Perez popped up to left to end the inning. Jackie Bradley Jr led off the bottom of the third by roping a single to right but Holt hit into a double play, the Sox third tonight. Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning.
Rodriguez got Gordon to ground out to first to start the top of the fourth before Escobar popped up to Holt. Mondesi Jr grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox fought back in the bottom of the fourth as Ortiz crushed his 31st home run of the year into the triangle in center to cut the lead. Mr. Mookie popped up to shallow right before Hanley hit a bullet....right to Cain. Shaw flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox down 2-1.
Rodriguez got Orlando to pop up to Holt to start the top of the fifth before some idiot ran onto the field. Cuthbert lined out to Holt before Cain grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox took command in the bottom of the fifth as Young singled off the glove of Cuthbert to begin. Leon hit a fly ball to Orlando and the ball ticked off his glove for an error. Young motored to third with Sandy taking second on the error. JBJ walked to load the bases as Holt grounded out to first to score Young and advanced the others. Bogaerts ripped a single up the middle to score Leon and JBJ to give the Sox the lead and chase Ventura. Matt Strahm came in and got Ortiz to bang into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-2.
The Royals exploded in the top of the sixth as Hosmer walked to start. Morales hit a ground rule double into the right field seats and Perez walked to load the bases with nobody out. Sox pitching coach Carl Willis sprinted to the mound to remind E-Rod that Law & Order SVU was on and Gordon popped up to left. That was it for E-Rod who ended up being charged 5 runs in 5 1/3 innings to take the loss.
Matt Barnes came in and completely puked on himself. Escobar hit a Baltimore chop off the plate for a base hit that scored Hosmer and Mondesi Jr tripled into the triangle to give the Royals the lead. Barnes plunked Orlando on the hand and Cuthbert hit a chopper to the mound where the only play was at home but Mondesi Jr beat the throw for another run. Cain singled off the Monster to score Orlando and chase Barnes. Matt was brought in with a 2 run lead and ended up allowing all three inherited runners to score and 3 of his own. Yuck! Robbie Ross Jr came in and poured gas on the fire as Hosmer singled off the Monster to score Cain and Cuthbert. Morales singled to left and both runners moved over on the grounder to third by Perez. Gordon grounded out to second but the Royals put 8 runs on the board to ice the game 10-4.
The Sox offense was done for the night in the bottom of the sixth as Mr. Mookie was rung up on a check swing strike three to start. Ramirez grounded out to short and Shaw grounded out to first to end the inning.
Ross Jr came back for the top of the seventh and Ramirez made a great pick on a grounder to first by Escobar to start. Mondesi Jr popped up to first and Orlando grounded out to third to end the inning. Young started the bottom of the seventh by popping up to first. Leon drew a walk but JBJ popped up to short. Holt grounded out to second to end the inning.
Junichi Tazawa came in for the top of the eighth and Cuthbert whiffed to start. Cain popped up to first and Hosmer grounded out to first to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the eighth against Peter Moylan. Bogaerts grounded out to third before Ortiz whiffed. Mr. Mookie hit a sharp grounder to third and beat out the bad throw for a "hit" but Ramirez grounded into a force to end the inning.
Tazawa returned for the top of the ninth as Morales beat the shift with a base hit to left to start. Billy Burns ran for Morales and was erased on the force by Perez. Taz made a great play to nab a liner by Gordon to induce the double play to end the inning. The game ended in the bottom of the ninth as Joakim Soria closed it out by getting Shaw to ground out to first to start. Young watched strike three go by before Leon blooped a single to left. JBJ drew a walk but Holt whiffed to end the game. The Royals had won it 10-4.
Jackass of the Night is Matt Barnes. He allowed 3 inherited runners to score and was charged with 5 of his own to put the Sox completely out of reach.
The Good:
Chris Young was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Sandy Leon was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Robbie Ross Jr tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Junichi Tazawa tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Hanley Ramirez was 0 for 4.
Eduardo Rodriguez was charged with 5 runs in just 5 1/3 innings to take the loss.
The Ugly:
Brock "The Hitman" Holt was just 1 for 5 with an rbi.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 but knocked in two runs.
David Ortiz was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a solo home run.
Travis Shaw was 0 for 3 with a walk.
Final Thoughts:
This game sucked big portions of ass. The Royals are on a hot streak this month but they're still last in the league in runs scored. The Royals had no trouble scoring runs off Rodriguez and Barnes and the Sox stopped trying after falling behind. Games like this can't happen with the AL East race this close. The Sox have a chance for the first time in 3 years and they have to beat the bad teams as well as the good ones as the calendar turns to September. Apart from Ortiz home run, the less said of this game the better. The loss dropped the Sox to 72-58, 2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow the Sox come home for a crucial homestand against the Tampa Bay Rays. "Slick" Rick Porcello (17-3) takes on Matt Andriese at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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