The Royals used a trio of home runs to down the Red Sox, 6-3, at Fenway Park in the series opener on Friday night. Eric Hosmer, Alex Gordon, and Lorenzo Cain each went deep for KC. Ian Kennedy earned the win, striking out eight over five-and-a-third innings. The Royals have now won eleven of twelve and are 18-6 in August.
Boston’s Steven Wright took the loss, allowing five runs in six innings. Mookie Betts led the Red Sox with five hits and two RBIs.
Kennedy improved to 9-9 and was on the verge of setting a club record by allowing one or fewer runs in six straight outings of at least six innings. He left with a runner on after 5.1 innings and was charged with two earned runs. He finished with nine strikeouts.
Kelvin Herrera earned his 10th save.
The Royals are three games out of the second wild card.