Pablo Reyes hit a grand slam against Carlos Hernandez with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the host Boston Red Sox to a 6-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday in the opener of a four-game series.
It was the first home run of the season for Reyes, who collected three hits and scored three times in the win. Boston had lost four straight games and seven of its last eight.
The home run came minutes after Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro was ejected for arguing a ball-four call when Luis Urias was at the plate. The walk loaded the bases for Reyes. Rafael Devers and Triston Casas also scored on the home run.
Hernandez (1-7) entered the game in the ninth inning.
Kenley Jansen (3-5) pitched a scoreless top of the ninth to earn the win. He struck out two.
Boston starting pitcher Brayan Bello allowed a run on six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out two. Bello has pitched at least six innings in 10 of his last 11 starts.
Kansas City starter Cole Ragans also went 6 2/3 innings. He gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits, walked one and struck out a career-high 11.
Designated hitter MJ Melendez had three hits for the Royals.
Masataka Yoshida’s sacrifice fly in the third inning scored Reyes with the game’s first run.
Boston doubled its lead in the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Reyes and Connor Wong.
The Royals tied the game with three consecutive hits after there were two outs in the seventh. Kyle Isbel doubled and scored on Maikel Garcia’s single, and then Bobby Witt Jr. made it a 2-2 game when he drove in Garcia with a double. Garcia’s single extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
–Field Level Media
