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BOSTON STRONG -
THE ROAD TO REDEMPTION
The Royals rough up Peavy
and the Red Sox bullpen
August 9, 2013 ...
Jake Peavy's second start with the Red Sox didn't go nearly as well as the first. Peavy, the veteran right-hander, got six runs worth of
offensive support in the opening four innings, but he and his bullpen mates couldn't hold back the resurgent Royals, who rallied for six runs in the sixth inning to zoom past the Sox for a 9-6 victory at Kauffman Stadium.
It was a struggle all evening for Peavy, who didn't have a strikeout in five-plus innings. Peavy and three relievers allowed 16 hits as the Royals continued a remarkable run. They have won three straight, six of seven and 15 of their last 17 games.
Peavy caught a huge break in the fifth when Alex Gordon lined into a double play with two on. On the strength of Mike
Napoli's three-run double in the fourth, Boston still had a 6-3 lead and hoped that Peavy would get his second wind in the sixth. It didn't happen. Kansas City opened the sixth with three consecutive hits, including an RBI single by
Alcides Escobar that made it 6-4. Out came Peavy, in came Drake Britton and the Royals' momentum was about to
snowball. Britton got off to an ominous start by walking George Kottaras, a .167 hitter, in a lefty-on-lefty matchup. Miguel Tejada popped out, but David Lough produced a sacrifice fly to right. When Shane Victorino went for the play at the plate and barely missed getting Mike Moustakas, the other runners advanced to second and third. That
proved huge moments later when Eric Hosmer laid his bat on a two-strike pitch and rolled a two-run single through the left side against the shift to put the Royals on top 7-6.
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PEDRO BEATO |
Pedro Beato relieved Britton in hopes of keeping it close, but Billy Butler had an RBI double and
Justin Maxwell added an RBI single. It marked the first time since May 23 against Cleveland that the Red Sox had surrendered a six-run inning.
Boston knocked out Kansas City starter Ervin Santana with nine hits and six runs through 3 2/3 innings, but the Royals' bullpen stemmed the tide and kept the Sox off the scoreboard. The
Sox had one brief opening in the eighth when reliever Tim Collins started the inning by walking Jacoby Ellsbury
and Victorino. Dustin Pedroia followed with a hard smash toward third that Moustakas turned into a 5-4 double play. The silver lining for the Red Sox was seeing Napoli reach base
four times, including his three-run double in the fourth.
Kansas City manager Ned Yost felt it was poetic justice that the Royals were able to storm back and win on a night when Santana didn't have his best stuff. Santana has been victimized by poor run support on numerous occasions, but the Kansas City offense had his
back.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia is third in the American League in innings caught with 758 1/3 going into tonight's game. He is on a pace to finish with more than 1,000 innings for the first time in his career. Among AL catchers with at least 325 plate
appearances, Saltalamacchia is fourth with a .777 OPS. A .239 career hitter coming into the season, Saltalamacchia is hitting .265 and has 39 extra-base hits, four short of his career high. Saltalamacchia was 2 for 4 with an RBI double in the 9-6 loss.
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