Andrew Benintendi and the Red Sox easily made up for David Price’s bad outing.
Benintendi homered Youth Mark Letestu Jersey , doubled, walked a career-high four times and scored four runs, and Boston routed the Kansas City Royals 15-4 on Saturday night.
Mookie Betts had four hits, raising his American League-leading average to .343. Ten Red Sox players had RBIs as they scored a season high in runs. They scored 11 runs after the sixth inning.
They needed the big finish to overcome Price’s poor start. He was lifted after 4 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits with nine strikeouts.
”I put us in a hole early,” Price said. ”We bounced back in the fifth inning with that four-spot then to give up the lead the way I did, not to be able to get through five innings, that’s tough. I’m struggling right now, searching, so that’s a big win for us to be able to come back the way we did.”
Benintendi became the sixth Boston player to walk four times and homer in a nine-inning game.
Xander Bogaerts had three RBIs for the Red Sox, who have won five straight and 12 of their past 15.
Christian Vazquez had a two-run, two-out single in the seventh.
Royals pitchers walked 13, one shy of the franchise record, including three in the three-run seventh. Mitch Moreland’s sacrifice fly scored Benintendi, who led off the inning with his fourth walk, for the first run of the inning.
The Red Sox rallied from a three-run deficit to take the lead with a four-run fifth, which Bogaerts highlighted with a three-run double.
”(Brad Keller) was on,” Bogaerts said of the KC starter. ”It was a tough pitch. Good thing I hit it hard and it kind of ran away from (center fielder Alcides) Escobar. He was throwing a good game until that last inning. He started to lose a little command. The walks might have got them in a little trouble – two-out walks, leadoff walks.”
Keller walked five, including Benintendi and Moreland in the fifth to load the bases before Bogaerts’ double. J.D. Martinez singled in the initial run of the inning, hiking his major league-leading RBI total to 74.
”He got into the fifth inning and got two quick outs Authentic Philip Rivers Jersey ,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”He just couldn’t make that pitch to get through that inning at that point.”
The next five batters reached base, four scored and Keller was pulled.
”You get two outs and think on the attack, but unfortunately it snowballed really quick on me,” Keller said.
Price, who had never hit three batters in a game, hit three Royals in a four-batter span, including Lucas Duda with the bases loaded to bring home Whit Merrifield in the fifth to tie the score at 4.
Heath Hembree (4-1) worked 1 1/3 hitless innings to pick up the victory. Jason Adam (0-2), the third of seven KC pitchers, took the loss. Catcher Drew Butera got the final out in his sixth career relief appearance and his first since 2016.
”I was trying not to get anybody hurt, including myself,” Butera said.
The Royals led 3-0 after Duda homered in the second and they scored twice more in the third.
The Royals have lost eight straight and 27 of 32 to fall 38 games below .500 for the first time since ending the 2006 season 62-100. They have lost 14 of their past 15 games at Kauffman Stadium.
LONGEST GAME
The game lasted 4 hours, 3 minutes, the longest nine-inning game for both clubs this season.
MOUSTAKAS AT FIRST
Mike Moustakas, who normally plays third, made his third start of the season at first. It was probably no coincidence a Yankees scout was in attendance and they are in the market for a first baseman.
ROSTER MOVE
The Royals placed RHP Justin Grimm on unconditional release waivers. Grimm had been on the disabled list with a right shoulder impingement. He was 1-3 with a 13.50 ERA in 16 relief appearances.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez broke his right little finger sliding into second base in the seventh inning and will go on the disabled list Sunday. .. RHP Joe Kelly was led off the field by the trainer in the eighth with light headiness. LHP Drew Pomeranz (bicep tendinitis) made a rehab start Saturday for Triple-A Pawtucket. He allowed one run on five hits and two walks over three innings, while striking out one. He threw 37 strikes in 60 pitches against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: RHP Rick Porcello, who is 10-3 with a 3.57 ERA in 18 starts, is the probable for the series finale.
Royals: RHP Jakob Junis has lost his previous seven starts to tumble to 5-10 with a 5.13 ERA in 17 starts.
Fitting for Independence Day, the Cincinnati Reds saved all their fireworks for the fourth.
Starting pitcher Sal Romano’s suicide squeeze capped Cincinnati’s six-run fourth inning, and the Reds rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox 7-4 on Wednesday night.
”It was nice to be able to contribute with the bat,” said Romano Womens Philip Rivers Jersey , who was hitting .038 going into the game. ”The first thought when I saw the signal, I thought the number one thing was get the ball down wherever the pitch was. I was excited. I have never done it before. It was definitely a big insurance run and got the out of the game.”
Jesse Winker and Jose Peraza each had a two-run single during the big inning, and Scooter Gennett also singled in a run. The Reds overcame Daniel Palka’s third home run in two games to win the three-game series and complete a 4-3 homestand before a crowd of 24,442, which stayed for a postgame fireworks show.
The Reds have won 13 of 17 and have come from behind in eight of their last 11 wins.
Yoan Moncada added a two-run homer for the White Sox, who have dropped five of seven and 14 of 20.
Cincinnati improved to 8-2 in interleague play, the most wins since going 11-9 in 2013. The White Sox are 4-11 against NL teams.
Romano (5-8) struck out six and allowing six hits and four runs in five innings. His bunt back to the mound brought home Adam Duvall for the final run of Cincinnati’s breakout fourth inning.
Reds relievers Amir Garrett and Michael Lorenzen teamed up for 2 1/3 scoreless innings before Jared Hughes celebrated his 33rd birthday by pitching the final 1 2/3 for his sixth save.
Dylan Covey retired his first nine batters before the Reds erupted for five hits and six runs while sending 10 batters to the plate in the fourth. Winker and Peraza each had a two-run single before Romano’s bunt knocked Covey (3-4) out of the game. Covey allowed a walk, struck out two and hit a batter in 3 2/3 innings.
”I was trying to get ground balls, but I was leaving my pitches elevated,” Covey said. ”I tried to make adjustments. That’s not my game, I’ve got to keep the ball down.”
”Their guy was shutting us down pretty good,” Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said. ”We saw some things from him better the second time around. We put together some good at-bats.”
Moncada, whose 12th-inning bases-loaded triple broke open Chicago’s 12-3 win Tuesday, gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead with a two-out, two-run homer in the third. Palka went deep for a 3-0 lead in the fourth.
The Reds added a run in the eighth on pitcher Chris Volstad’s bases-loaded throwing error.
EXPLOSIVE
The Reds sent nine or more batters to the plate in one inning in five of the seven games on the just-completed homestand.
SHREWD MOVE
Billy Hamilton, who entered the game as a pinch-runner in the sixth and stayed in to play center field, threw out Jose Abreu at the plate trying to score from second to end the eighth – Hamilton’s eighth assist of the season, tying Cubs left fielder Kyle Schwarber for the NL lead among outfielders.
SHAKEUP
The Reds traded RHP Dylan Floro and a minor league pitcher to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two minor league pitchers, optioned IF/OF Brandon Dixon to Triple-A Louisville and recalled RHP Tanner Rainey and LHP Cody Reed from Louisville before Wednesdays game.
DON’T FORGET TO WRITE
A 10-day, nine-game road trip and the All-Star break will keep the Reds away from Cincinnati until July 20.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: Abreu returned to Chicago’s lineup after leaving Monday’s game and missing Tuesday’s with a bruised left ankle from a foul ball.
Reds: Gennett reported no problems from having his left hand bent back while trying to make a catch on Adam Engel’s bunt Tuesday.
UP NEXT
White Sox: LHP Carlos Rodon (1-3) faces the Astros on Thursday. He is 1-0 with a 1.71 ERA in four career starts against Houston.
Reds: RHP Tyler Mahle (6-6) faces the Cubs on Friday at Wrigley Field. Mahle was 3-0 with a 2.18 ERA in five June starts.