Knowing the game being cut short due to rain was an ever-present possibility, both sides understood having the lead by the end of the fifth inning was crucial.
The call never came, but James Paxton and the Red Sox pitching staff saw to it the Kansas City Royals never had a chance anyway.
Coming off a rough outing last weekend against Toronto, Paxton bounced back with 5.1 shutout innings to help lead the Red Sox past Kansas City 2-0. The left-hander scattered six hits over the six innings he appeared in, but otherwise shut the Royals down and struck out six to earn the win.
Not only did the victory give Boston a 3-1 series win over the Royals, but coupled with Toronto’s loss earlier in the day, the Red Sox were able to regain some ground on their divisional rivals and now trail the Blue Jays by four games for the last American League Wild Card spot.
Playing amid a steady rain that started falling just before first pitch, neither offense was able to get anything going through the first three innings. The Red Sox finally got going in the bottom of the fourth when Triston Casas singled, Trevor Story doubled and then Alex Verdugo drove Casas in with a sacrifice fly to left.
Story’s hit, his first of the season after spending the first four-plus months on the injured list, was an absolute rope to deep center field. Royals outfielder Dairon Blanco nearly made an incredible leaping grab near the warning track, but the ball was just out of his reach and landed safely to break Story out of his 0 for 9 funk.
The Red Sox tacked on a second run in the bottom of the fifth following an unusual sequence of events. First Reese McGuire appeared to reach on a throwing error but was then called out for interference. Then Pablo Reyes legged out a double on a close play at second, and Adam Duvall drove him in after hitting a line drive off the left field foul line.
That ball was initially ruled foul, but the call was overturned on review to make it 2-0.
Kansas City had a couple of opportunities to cut into the deficit. Blanco hit a two-out triple in the fifth and Bobby Witt Jr. a leadoff double in the sixth, but the Royals couldn’t get either runner home.
Their best chance came in the seventh after Josh Winckowski allowed a leadoff single and then committed a pitch clock violation on a 3-1 count to walk Samad Taylor, but the righty came back and struck out the next two batters to end the threat. Chris Martin threw a scoreless eighth and then Kenley Jansen locked down his 26th save of the season to polish off the series victory.
Kansas City finished the game 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position while stranding seven runners, and though the Red Sox didn’t get as many scoring chances, they capitalized on the ones they had. Duvall led the way by going 2 for 4 with the RBI double, and Pablo Reyes continued his impressive week at the plate by going 2 for 4, raising his average on the season to .330.
Now the Red Sox turn their attention to the Detroit Tigers, who come to town Friday for a three-game weekend series to close out the 10-game homestand. Chris Sale is expected to make his return after more than two months on the injured list, and first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.