Kansas City Tops Boston 6-1 Behind Witt Jr. and Melendez Homers
On Friday night, the Kansas City Royals continued their hot streak, defeating the Boston Red Sox 6-1 at Fenway Park. Bobby Witt Jr. and MJ Melendez each launched solo home runs, while Cole Ragans delivered a stellar performance on the mound, allowing just one run over seven innings.
Adam Frazier, Vinnie Pasquantino, and Salvador Perez contributed RBIs for the Royals, who are now just one game back of Boston for the AL's final wild-card spot as they opened the three-game series.
The Royals got on the board early with a sacrifice fly from Perez in the first inning, bringing Frazier home. They extended their lead in the second inning with a series of hits: Frazier singled to center, scoring Melendez; Pasquantino hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Isbel; and Perez singled to left, scoring Frazier. The Red Sox managed their lone run in the bottom of the second when Ceddanne Rafaela doubled to center, bringing home Westbrook.
Witt Jr., an All-Star slated to compete in Monday’s Home Run Derby, smashed his 16th homer of the season in the fourth inning, sending the ball 429 feet into the center field seats atop the Green Monster.
Melendez sealed the victory with a solo shot to right-center in the eighth inning, his homer traveling 392 feet.
Ragans, with his dominant performance, kept the Red Sox lineup at bay, scattering five hits and striking out six over seven innings. The Royals bullpen took over from there, with clean innings from Anderson and Stratton clinching the victory.
The Royals will send RHP Seth Lugo (11-3, 2.21 ERA) to the mound on Saturday. Lugo has the lowest ERA by a Royal over his first 19 starts with the franchise and is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in three career appearances against Boston.
MATHEY GIBSON