The Sox have taken a 12-7 lead over the Kansas City Royals after a six-run fifth inning.
After the Kansas City Royals’ pair of fourth-inning homers left them on top 7-5, the Sox picked up a sixth run on a bases-loaded walk by Carl Crawford. The Sox would leave the bags full that inning when Jason Varitek flew out to center.
The floodgates did open, however, in the fifth. With Terry Francona bringing in Jacoby Ellsbury to hit for Yamaico Navarro—he hit the second straight single to lead off the inning—Drew Sutton came in to lay down a sacrifice bunt for Darnell McDonald. The bunt was good, but the throw got away from first baseman Eric Hosmer, and then just about everyone else in the infield. By the time the circus was over, Sutton stood at third, and two runs were in.
The Sox were far from done, however. Marco Scutaro walked to make it runners on the corners. Up came Adrian Gonzalez, who began a string of four straight singles to score three more runs, and set up a Drew Sutton sacrifice fly for the fourth. Only a running grab by Melky Cabrera in center kept Jacoby Ellsbury from adding a few more.
Meanwhile, Alfredo Aceves has done what Andrew Miller could not, shutting down the Royals lineup for a couple of innings. The Sox will just need a few more scoreless to leave with a win.