The Boston Red Sox choked. Plain and simple. Kansas City rolled into Fenway Park on Friday night and handed them a tough 3-2 loss, and honestly, the way it went down is just brutal for a team fighting for their season. The Royals came in and proved they were pesky, taking Game 1 in a series that seriously matters.
Sonny Gray Got Lit Up, And That Was Just The Start
Sonny Gray was the story, and not in the good way. Kansas City touched him for 10 hits across six innings, dropping all three of their runs on the Red Sox before the third inning was even over. Sal Perez started the damage in the first with a two-out single that snuck past a diving Caleb Durbin. Then, in the third, Carter Jensen doubled high off the Monster, and Vinnie Pasquantino immediately followed up by finding a hole past a shifted Nick Sogard. Just like that, it was 3-0. No bloops here, just well-placed hits at the absolute worst time. Gray did settle in after that, technically logging a quality start with six innings and three earned runs, but the damage was already done. The Sox bullpen held Kansas City scoreless in the eighth and ninth, even stranding a runner at third in the ninth, but it was too little, too late.
The Comeback Fizzled Against A Bad Bullpen
The Red Sox tried to make it interesting in the fifth. Mickey Gasper, playing DH, absolutely lasered one into the bullpen to lead off, his ninth home run of the year, cutting the lead to 3-1. Then Willy Abreu doubled off the Monster to knock home another run, making it 3-2. You could feel the crowd getting into it, the momentum tilting. Seth Lugo had been hittable all night, and suddenly the comeback math was right there. But then it just stopped. Nick Hoffman took over in the sixth, and the Royals’ bullpen, a bottom-five unit in baseball by ERA, shut Boston down cold. Hoffman, Carson Thomas, Nate Pearson, Steven Cruz, they held the Sox to nothing the rest of the way. Eight hits for the game, only two runs. They had four innings to score one measly run against a struggling bullpen and just couldn’t do it.
Boston’s Destiny Is On The Line
It’s unfathomable for a guy like Mickey Gasper, who wasn’t supposed to be this kind of bat, to have nine homers already, but his solo shot didn’t win the game. Other teams, like the Rays, are punching their tickets to October. The Red Sox still have the lead and control their own destiny, that much is true. But this kind of loss against a team like the Royals? It’s crunch time. Boston needs to nut up, and soon. This series matters big time, and they just fumbled Game 1.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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