The Red Sox have taken a 1-0 lead over the Royals on the strength of Josh Reddick’s second inning double.
Jon Lester has been strong in his return, taking 60 pitches to get through four innings, he’s struck out five batters already, and has only run into any trouble in the second and fourth inning, when he allowed a pair of singles each time.
Kyle Davies has also been surprisingly effective, but the Red Sox have managed to push across one run. David Ortiz drew a one-out walk in the second inning, and Carl Crawford—having replaced him at first after a fielder’s choice—stole second. He probably didn’t needed to, however, as Josh Reddick took a 3-2 curveball and sent it rocketing into right field to drive Crawford in.
Dustin Pedroia, meanwhile, has kept his hit streak alive with a line drive into right field. That makes it 22 straight games with a hit for the second baseman.