David Ortiz tied Jimmie Foxx for 18th on the all-time Major League Baseball home run list Sunday against the Kansas City Royals.
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Boston snapped a three-game losing streak by rapping out 12 hits, including three home runs, and Dustin Pedroia just missed tying a record for consecutive at-bats with a hit in an 8-3 win against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park. “I’ve got to do a better job of securing that lead and getting out of that inning”.
The loss was the fourth in the last five games for the Red Sox, who fell two games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. Boston (72-58) is a game ahead of the Baltimore Orioles for the first AL wild card.
The win, the 13th in the past 15 games and 17th in the 21 for the defending World Series champions, moved the Royals within two games of an American League wild-card spot.
Boston cut the deficit in the fourth when David Ortiz hit his 31st home run deep to the triangle off Yordano Ventura (9-9, 4.27) to tie Jimmie Foxx at 534 and 18th on the all time list.
Raul Mondesi’s three-run triple highlighted the Royals’ biggest inning in three years, and left-hander Matt Strahm pitched 2 2/3 innings of no-hit ball for the win.
Andriese (6-6) allowed 10 hits and noticed Boston’s hitters laid off his changeup that was effective last Thursday when he went six innings, giving up three runs. He’s expected to rejoin the Red Sox midway through Monday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park.
Then in what appeared to be a never-ending inning, the Red Sox were down 10-4.
Pedroia, who turned 33 less than two weeks ago, is one of the reasons the Red Sox have bounced back from two straight last place finishes and are firmly in the postseason picture this year.
First signed by Kansas City out of Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela, in 2006, Perez has transformed from a highly-skilled defensive catcher, into one of the game’s elite.
Sandy Leon hit a two-out, bases-loaded single in the seventh to drive in two more. The home run, Ortiz’s 534th, was measured at 413 feet. This time, he allowed 6 hits and tied a career high with 8 strikeouts and 2 walks.
“Rick has been a model of consistency”, Red Sox manager John Farrell said.
Clay Buchholz relieved Porcello to start the eighth and allowed one run on a walk and two hits.
When the Boston Red Sox are in a slump, they usually turn to their league-leading offense to break them out of it.
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Brock Holt had three hits and drove in two runs, Travis Shaw had three hits and Chris Young added a tiebreaking two-run double for Boston.
