The Boston Red Sox hope to shake a recent skid when they continue a three-game weekend series against the visiting Kansas City Royals on Saturday afternoon.
Boston (80-68) left eight men on base and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position en route to a 3-2 loss on Friday. The setback was the club’s third in a row and fifth in the last six home games since Sept. 1.
“We need to do more, particularly in the early part of games,” said Boston interim manager Chad Tracy, whose team is still five games clear in a wild-card position.
Mickey Gasper homered while Trevor Story and Wilyer Abreu each had a double, but Boston managed just one hit after the fifth inning allowed the Royals (66-82) to clinch their third win in five games following a 1-5 stretch.
Tracy looks to left-hander Ranger Suarez (6-4, 3.44 ERA) to build upon his third scoreless start of at least seven innings this season.
After allowing 18 earned runs in his previous six starts, Suarez scattered five hits, walked one and struck out three to lead the Red Sox to a 1-0 win at the Baltimore Orioles last Friday.
“Literally, I’ve been waiting for (that type of) start for a while,” Suarez said. “The (previous) three or four…I (wasn’t) able to complete six. So, to be able to have a start like that and have a strong end of the year, that’s what I’m looking for.”
A first-inning solo home run by Gasper was all that the left-hander needed for support in his last outing. The New Hampshire native repeated the feat on Friday for his ninth homer in the last 21 games.
Suarez has enjoyed success in two career starts against the Royals, going 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA and nine strikeouts over 9 1/3 innings. Earlier this season, he allowed one run in 4 1/3 innings of l in a no-decision on May 19.
Kansas City rode early offense off American League Cy Young candidate Sonny Gray to the series-opening triumph, which was its seventh in the last 10 road games.
Carter Jensen and Salvador Perez each had an RBI as part of their two-hit performances, with Jensen scoring a run after each of his first two at-bats. Jensen’s two doubles give him 56 extra-base hits on the season, the most among AL rookies.
“(The win) felt great,” Jensen said. “Get off to a hot start for sure. Good start to the road trip and getting a win. Yeah, it was a fun game all around.”
In manager Matt Quatraro’s eyes, it was an earned victory.
“I mean, that was a grinder,” he said.
Right-hander Randy Dobnak (3-3, 2.54) is slated to make Saturday’s start for the Royals.
The 31-year-old has allowed two or fewer earned runs in eight of his 10 starts since joining the rotation in mid-July. He earned his first win in over a month on Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays, allowing just one run in his third straight six-inning outing.
“He sinks it. He slides it. He sweeps it. He does all of it,” first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said of Dobnak, who the Royals acquired in a June 17 trade from the Seattle Mariners and promoted from Triple-A Omaha on July 1. “He’s been a great addition. He’s great in the clubhouse.”
Dobnak is 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA in two career appearances (four innings) against the Red Sox, with his lone start coming as an opener with the Minnesota Twins in 2019.
–Field Level Media
