The Boston Red Sox are on a hot streak, having won their past three series, and they’ll be looking to extend that streak to four when they face off against the visiting Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
After dropping the opener of a three-game series against the Royals with a score of 6-1 on Friday night, the Red Sox bounced back in a big way with a 5-0 victory on Saturday. This win marked Boston’s 11th shutout of the season, tying them with the Atlanta Braves for the most shutout victories in Major League Baseball.
In Friday’s loss, the Red Sox were held to just five hits, but they came out swinging on Saturday with 12 hits. They managed to score five runs on 10 hits against American League All-Star Seth Lugo, who had the lowest ERA in the major leagues at 2.21 but failed to make it out of the sixth inning.
Key players in Saturday’s victory included Rafael Devers, who hit a solo home run, as well as Reese McGuire, Dominic Smith, and Jarren Duran, who each had two hits in the game.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora praised his team’s offensive performance, saying, “We put some good at-bats against (Lugo). We were relentless today. Not swinging and missing, putting the ball in play. It was an overall, good offensive performance.”
With the win on Saturday, the Red Sox and Royals were tied for the American League’s third wild-card spot. However, the Red Sox took a one-game lead with one game left before the All-Star break.
Pitching was a key factor in Saturday’s victory, with Boston’s Kutter Crawford tossing seven shutout innings and limiting the Royals to just two hits. Crawford threw 96 pitches, with an impressive 76 of them being strikes.
Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro commended Crawford’s performance, saying, “He kept us on our heels. The cutter was outstanding. He’s deceptive, we know that, with his arm action.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s matchup, the Royals will send right-hander Brady Singer to the mound. Singer has a 5-5 record with a 2.93 ERA and is coming off a strong performance in his last outing.
On the other side, the Red Sox will have right-hander Brayan Bello on the mound. Bello had a record-setting performance in his last start, recording the first 10 outs via strikeout but ultimately giving up five runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Both teams will be looking to secure a win on Sunday and head into the All-Star break on a high note. The Royals have won four of their past five games, so it should be an exciting matchup between these two playoff-contending teams.
–Field Level Media
