The Sox threatened Royals starter Brad Keller in the top of the first inning as Mr. Mookie Betts doubled to start. Andrew Benintendi drew a walk but JD Martinez flied out to right. Mitch Moreland flied out to center to advanced Betts to third but Benintendi randomly ran to second base and was thrown out to end the inning. Price took the mound in the bottom of the first inning and whit Merrifield grounded out to third to begin. Jorge Bonifacio walked but Mike Moustakas took strike three. Salvador Perez flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the second as Xander Bogaerts lined out to short to begin. Brock "The Hitman" Holt singled but Rafael Devers popped up to short. Christian Vazquez grounded out to third to end the inning. The Royals struck first in the bottom of the second inning although Hunter Dozier whiffed to start. Lucas Duda pounded a 3.854,000 foot blast into the Gulf of Mexico to give the Royals the lead. Alcides Escobar grounded out to third before Alex Gordon grounded out to short to end the inning with the Royals up 1-0.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the third as Jackie Bradley Jr lined out to second to begin. Mr. Mookie singled and stole second before Benintendi walked. Martinez whiffed and Moreland grounded out to second to end the inning. The Royals struck again in the bottom of the third although Adalberto Mondesi struck out to start. Merrifield singled, Bonifacio doubled and Moustakas singled to score Merrifield. Bonifacio took third and scored on the Perez sac fly before Dozier struck out swinging to end the inning with the Royals ahead 3-0.
The Sox failed to respond in the top of the fourth as Bogaerts walked to start but was erased on the Holt force. Devers banged into a double play to end the inning. A pissed off Price blew away Duda to start the bottom of the fourth, but Escobar doubled. Gordon whiffed and Mondesi struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox roared back in the top of the fifth although Vazquez popped up to second and JBJ watched strike three go by to start. Mr. Mookie singled and Benintendi walked again but this time Martinez singled home Mookie with Benintendi going to third. Moreland walked to load the bases and Bogaerts cleared the bases with a double to give the Sox the lead. Bogaerts had moved to third on the throw and that was it for Keller. Tim Hill came in to walk Holt and he swiped second but Devers whiffed to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-3.
Price came back for the bottom of the fifth but lost his command. Merrifield singled but Bonifacio looked at strike three. Price plunked both Moustakas and Perez to load the bases. Price froze Doxier for strike three but Duda was plunked as well to tie the game. That was it for Price who left a trail of hit batsmen on his way out as he failed to finish 5 innings, going 4 2/3 while giving up 4 runs. Heath Hembree came in and got Escobar to fly out to right to end the inning but it was tied 4-4.
Jason Adam came in for the top of the sixth and blew the Sox away. Vazquez, JBJ and Mr. Mookie all whiffed in short order. Hembree returned for the bottom of the sixth and Gordon popped up to short to start. Mondesi whiffed but Merrifield walked. Bonifacio hit a routine grounder to Devers who picked the ball up and spiked it like a football before doing the funky chicken. Bonifacio reached first on the bizarre error but Hembree recovered to get Moustakas to fly out to center to end the inning.
The Sox took the lead in the top of the seventh as Benintendi walked for the third time and moved to third on the Martinez double. Enny Romero replaced Adam but Moreland scored Benintendi with a sac fly to give the Sox the lead. Bogaerts was intentionally walked but the slumping Holt flied out to center. Devers walked to load the bases and Vazquez delivered with a single to score Martinez and Bogaerts while moving Devers to third. Vazquez stole second but JBJ grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-4.
Matt Barnes came in for Hembree for the bottom of the seventh and Perez whiffed to start. Dozier grounded out to short and Duda whiffed to...oh wait...the strike three ball got away from Vazquez and Duda took first on the wild pitch. Escobar flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the eighth against Kevin McCarthy. Mr. Mookie whiffed but Benintendi said to heck with a walk and blasted a solo home run to increase the lead. Martinez whiffed but Moreland walked. Bogaerts grounded out to second to end the inning but it was 8-4 Sox.
All of a sudden Vazquez keeled over clutching his hand and had to be carried on a stretcher into an ambulance headed to the ICU with a finger issue. Sandy Leon took his place behind the plate with Joe Kelly now on the mound for the bottom of the eighth. Gordon whiffed and Mondesi grounded out to first before Kelly ran off the mound and into the dugout for no apparent reason. Brandon Workman was in the bullpen reading the newspaper and had to come into the game ice cold. Merrifield grounded out to short to end the inning but the game was getting weirder.
The Sox then pulled off an unnecessary rally in the top of the ninth inning against Brandon Maurer. Holt grounded out to first but Devers singled to left. Leon singled Devers to third and JBJ beat out a double play ball to score Devers. Mr. Mookie doubled home JBJ and took third on the throw. Benintendi doubled in Mr. Mookie and Blake Swihart pinch hit for Martinez. Swihart singled home Benintendi to chase Maurer. Drew Butera came in and Moreland singled Swihart to third. Bogaerts walked to load the bases and Holt drew a walk to score Swihart. Devers drew another walk to score Moreland and Leon singled home Bogaerts, reloading the bases. JBJ finally lined out to end the inning but enough was enough, 15-7 Sox.
Hector "The Insurance Policy" Velazquez had mop up duty in the bottom of the ninth with Abraham Almonte pinch hitting for Bonifacio. Almonte popped up to third before Moustakas grounded back to the mound. Perez grounded out to short to end the game. The Sox had won a rout 15-4.
Hero of the Night is a tough one but I'll go with Andrew Benintendi. He was 2 for 2 with 4 walks and 4 runs scored including a solo home run.
The Good:
Mookie Betts was 4 for 6 with a stolen base, 2 runs scored and an rbi.
JD Martinez was 2 for 5 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Blake Swihart singled, drove in a run and scored a run.
Mitch Moreland was 1 for 3 with 2 walks, an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 3 with 3 walks, 3 rbis and 2 runs scored.
Sandy Leon was 2 for 2 with an rbi.
Heath Hembree tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless 7th inning.
Joe Kelly got the first two out in the top of the eighth inning.
Brandon Workman got the final out of the eighth inning.
Hector Velazquez pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
David Price got lit up for 4 runs in just 4 2/3 innings although he did strike out 9.
The Ugly:
Brock Holt was just 1 for 4 but walked twice, stole a base and drove in a run.
Rafael Devers was just 1 for 4 with an error but walked twice, drove in a run and scored.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 but stole a base and drove in two runs.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 6 but drove in a run and scored.
Final Thoughts:
As good as the Sox win was, it came at a price. Vazquez fractured his pinky finger and will be out a while so Blake Swihart is going to have to step up to be the backup catcher to Leon. All the offense tonight was good but Price is starting to be a concern. He got knocked around by the Royals and they are certainly not the New York Yankees. He better shake off the beatdown in the Bronx because the Sox need him to pitch like he did the first 3 months of the season. The Yankees are breathing down the Sox necks and they are not going away. At least the bullpen stepped up tonight to toss 4 1/3 shutout innings which has been better than their usual non-production. As well as the offense is clicking like it has been, the Sox are going to be ok. The win propelled the Sox to 61-29, 2 games ahead of the Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow afternoon the Sox go for their second consecutive series sweep as they send "Slick" Rick Porcello (10-3) up against Heath Fillmyer of the Royals. The game begins at 2:10 PM at Kauffman Stadium.
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