The Red Sox are after a second straight win Tuesday night as they take on the Kansas City Royals in Kauffman Stadium.
After taking a high-scoring shootout from the Royals on Monday, the Sox will have to deal with a more difficult opponent in Danny Duffy tonight. We'll keep you up-to-date with all the action as it goes down out west.
Red Sox 4, Royals 6, Final -- 1-2-3 go the Sox, and just like that a win becomes a loss.
Red Sox 4, Royals 6, End 8th -- Oh it was bound to happen. Daniel Bard couldn't keep it together in the eighth, walking the first two batters of the inning, and is pulled for Matt Albers. While Albers has been good for the Sox of late, observant fans with long memories will remember that he is, in fact, a terrible pitcher. This explains why his third pitch was middle-middle to Billy Butler, and why the Red Sox are now losing this game after a three-run shot.
Red Sox 4, Royals 3, Mid 8th -- Marlon Byrd provides the Sox a baserunner--a rare even since Danny Duffy left the game--but then gets picked off as the inning effectively goes 1-2-3.
Red Sox 4, Royals 3, End 7th -- Daniel Bard experiences some difficulty in the seventh, giving up a pair of leadoff singles to land himself in trouble early. But a sacrifice bunt gifts him a first out, Adrian Gonzalez catches a runner at home to keep the tying run out, and the Sox escape with Bard's first strikeout of the night. Quite the solid escape.
Red Sox 4, Royals 3, Mid 7th -- The Red Sox don't score, but Adrian Gonzalez definitely has his swing back, putting a fastball on a line to center field and looking smooth doing it. One week ago and he swings through that or pops it up.
Red Sox 4, Royals 3, End 6th -- Billy Butler gets on base by way of a ground ball single through the right side of the infield, but Daniel Bard's ground balls once again save him from any major trouble, with a double play ball ending the inning.
Red Sox 4, Royals 3, Mid 6th -- Kelvin Herrera has once again settled things down after the departure of the KC starter. After getting Kelly Shoppach to swing through what may have been a 90 MPH changeup, Herrera gets some easy outs on Aviles and Pedroia to end the sixth in a hurry.
Red Sox 4, Royals 3, End 5th -- A leadoff walk breaks up a streak of six straight retired for Daniel Bard, but the next three batters all create weak contact, leaving the Royals stuck at three runs as the game heads to the sixth.
Red Sox 4, Royals 3, Mid 5th -- The Sox take the lead thanks to the reappearance of one Adrian Gonzalez with a loud double to right-center that has just about every Red Sox fan feeling a good deal of relief. After a Nick Punto walk (miracle of miracles), the Royals have a chance to turn an inning-ending double play, but Chris Getz throws the ball away allowing Adrian to score the go-ahead run from second.
Red Sox 3, Royals 3, End 4th -- Daniel Bard's run of form continues, needing just a few more pitches than in the third to record three ground ball outs.
Red Sox 3, Royals 3, Mid 4th -- Some two-out production helps the Sox to tie the game up. Mike Aviles starts the mini-rally off by launching a fly ball over the head of Alex Gordon and to the wall for a double. Dustin Pedroia works a long at bat, fighting off a few two-strike pitches before finally catching one and cueing it into center field for the RBI.
Red Sox 2, Royals 3, End 3rd -- No sign of the shaky bard in the third, as he brushes the terrible second inning off and retires the heart of the Royals lineup 1-2-3 on just five pitches with no hard contact.
Red Sox 2, Royals 3, Mid 3rd -- Nick Punto is just absolutely brutal at the plate. After walks to Cody Ross and Adrian Gonzalez, Punto gets ahead 2-1...and then promptly grounds into a weak double play, effectively ending the rally before Darnell McDonald finishes off the inning with a pop out.
Nick Punto is the rally killer.
Red Sox 2, Royals 3, End 2nd -- Bard comes absolutely unraveled in a disaster of a third inning, even with "just" three runs surrendered. While the leadoff single and walk were bad enough, Bard compounded his problems by offering up not one, but two balks within minutes of eachother. The first came when he failed to step fully to third before firing to first, and the second when he was distracted by the runner he just sent to second with his balk.
Another single up the middle proved enough to score the runner from second, and after a tremendously wild pitch well above the a third
Red Sox 2, Royals 0, Mid 2nd -- The Sox grab a pair of runs off of Danny Duffy in the second, and it is of course Will Middlebrooks leading the charge, working the count full and then shooting a bullet along the ground down the foul line in right for a double. A Marlon Byrd single leaves runners on the corners, and Kelly Shoppach brings Middlebrooks in for the first run of the game with a flare out to center.
Mike Aviles would walk to load the bases, and Dustin Pedroia would work the count full before drawing his own free pass to bring another run in before David Ortiz finally flies out to end a long inning.
The bad news, however, is that Will Middlebrooks is out of the game after pulling up wincing at second. Bad, bad news for the Sox.
Red Sox 0, Royals 0, Mid 1st -- It's hardly the four run first that they had against Jonathan Sanchez on Monday. After Duffy managed to keep the ball on the ground against Mike Aviles and Dustin Pedroia for the first two outs, David Ortiz pulled ahead in the count 3-0, took a strike, and then pulled a fastball to the wall in right for a double. Duffy buckled down against Cody Ross, however, striking out the outfielder on four pitches to end the frame.
Red Sox 0, Royals 0, End 1st -- Daniel Bard enjoys a 1-2-3 first, getting a couple quick ground balls and inducing a lazy fly ball from Billy Butler to left to send the game to the top of the second in a scoreless tie.