Other » The Red Sox jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two innings

KANSAS CITY http://www.seattleseahawksteamonline.com/phil-haynes-jersey , Mo. — The opener of the Boston Red Sox’s three-game series with the Kansas City Royals on Friday night went as anticipated on paper.

Chris Sale dominated the Royals, striking out 12 in six innings. The Royals scored four meaningless runs the final three innings against the Red Sox bullpen in a 10-5 loss.

The Red Sox and Royals will meet again Saturday night and Boston will again be heavily favored.

Boston (60-29) leads the majors with 60 victories and has a major league-best .674 winning percentage. The Red Sox are 31 games above .500 for the first time since concluding the 2013 season at 97-65.

Their 60 wins are the fourth most after 89 games in the 118-year franchise history. The only teams with more wins after 89 games were the 1946 Red Sox at 63-26 and the 1912 and 1978 clubs at 61-28.

Boston is 5-2 on its nine-game, 10-day trip to New York, Washington and Kansas City. It is 32-17 away from Fenway Park.

The Red Sox are 3-1 against the Royals this season. The Royals went 8-4 against the Red Sox in the previous two seasons, Boston’s worst record against any opponent during that span.

Left-hander David Price will start for the Red Sox on Saturday. He is 9-6 with a 4.28 ERA in his first 17 starts.

Price is coming off a poor start on Sunday at Yankee Stadium, allowing eight runs and nine hits across 3 1/3 innings.

Before that, Price had been magnificent in his previous nine starts, posting a 7-1 record with a 2.72 ERA. He allowed 17 earned runs in 56 1/3 innings during a span from May 12 through June 26. He allowed no more than three earned runs in any of those starts.

Price is unbeaten in seven career starts and one bullpen appearance against the Royals. He is 4-0 with a 2.13 ERA against Kansas City, giving up 12 earned runs in 50 2/3 innings.

The Red Sox’s dynamic duo of Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez are tough on any pitching staff and that was the case again Friday.

Betts led off the game with a home run, the 100th of his career. He joins Tony Conigliaro, Jim Rice and Ted Williams as the only Red Sox players with 100 home runs before their 26th birthday.

Betts is batting .369 (41-for-111) with nine home runs and 19 RBIs in 26 career games against the Royals. His batting average is the best for any opposing hitter with a minimum of 100 at-bats against Kansas City.

Martinez hit a two-run shot in the second inning and leads the majors with 27 home runs. Only Carl Yastrzemski, 29 in 1969, and David Ortiz, 31 in 2006 http://www.tampabaybuccaneersteamonline.com/mike-edwards-jersey , had more homers before the All-Star break. Martinez leads the American League with 73 RBIs.

The Royals will send rookie right-hander Brad Keller (2-3, 2.09 ERA) to the mound as they attempt to snap a seven-game losing streak.

Keller, a Rule Five pick from the Arizona Diamondbacks, threw an eight-inning, complete-game six-hitter at Seattle in his previous start, only to lose 1-0 to the Mariners.

He is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 13 appearances at Kauffman Stadium. He has a 2.25 ERA in three home starts.

Keller made two relief appearances in May at Boston. He got the final two outs of the seventh inning withoutout giving up any runs in a 5-4, 11-inning victory on May 1 and the next day threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

Already in line to start his third career All-Star Game and first since 2012, Matt Kemp is keeping up a torrid pace.

Kemp tied a career high with five hits, Joc Pederson and Max Muncy hit back-to-back homers to highlight a six-run fourth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Pittsburgh Pirates 17-1 on Monday night in the series opener.

Kemp hit a three-run homer in the sixth and drove in four runs for the second straight game. He came up a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.

He’s notched eight straight hits since Sunday against Colorado; the franchise record is 10.

”It’s been pretty good,” Kemp said. ”As a team, we did a pretty good job.”

Fans chanted ”MVP! MVP!” as Kemp crossed the plate after his 15th homer of the season. The veteran slugger is the second-leading vote getter among National League outfielders for the July 17 All-Star Game. Kemp also scored four runs.

”It was a clinic tonight, and everyone sort of fed off what he was doing at the plate,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Cody Bellinger homered in the third http://www.tampabaybuccaneersteamonline.com/matt-gay-jersey , leaving the Dodgers with 116 homers this season after they slugged a major league-leading and franchise-record 55 in June. They already have five long balls two days into July.

The Dodgers recorded season highs in hits (21) and runs. They batted around in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, tacking on three runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth for a 17-1 lead.

”You never like when these games happen, but they seem to find a way to happen every now and then,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.

Alex Wood (5-5) allowed one run and six hits in six innings. The left-hander struck out three and didn’t walk anyone in recording a win for his fourth straight start. The Dodgers’ defense backed him with double plays in the first and sixth.

Wood was sitting for long stretches while the Dodgers batted around, although he also was busy with four at-bats, getting a hit.

Caleb Ferguson pitched three innings to earn his first major league save on his 22nd birthday.

”A 16-run save,” joked Wood.

Ferguson said, ”I didn’t realize it until after the game. It’s awesome, especially on my birthday.”

Yasiel Puig had three hits and drove in four runs in the Dodgers’ second straight win.

The Pirates stumbled from the start.

In the first inning alone, David Freese dropped a throw at first base, starter Nick Kingham balked a runner to third and catcher Elias Diaz missed the target on a throw to the mound for an error by Kingham that allowed Bellinger to score the Dodgers’ second run of the inning.

”It just missed my glove and bounced away,” Kingham said. ”No one else was expecting it but the runner on third saw it and he went home.”

Pittsburgh’s third error – by center fielder Austin Meadows – led to the Dodgers scoring their 10th run in the fourth.

The Pirates’ lone run came on Diaz’s homer in the second.

Kingham (3-3) gave up seven runs – five earned – and eight hits in three-plus innings, the rookie’s shortest outing of the season. The right-hander struck out two and walked three making a spot start in place of Chad Kuhl http://www.tennesseetitansteamonline.com/a.j.-brown-jersey , who is on the disabled list with a forearm strain.

The Dodgers were no kinder to reliever Tanner Anderson, who got tagged for six runs – five earned – and eight hits in two innings of his major league debut.

”First pitch, I was really nervous,” the 2015 Harvard graduate said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: INF-OF Sean Rodriguez (right quad strain) began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Indianapolis. … LHP Enny Romero (left shoulder impingement) was reinstated from the DL and designated for assignment.

Dodgers: RHP Walker Buehler will pitch at Class A-Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday. If it goes well, he will toss a bullpen session on Friday. … LHP Tony Cingrani (left shoulder inflammation) will have a rehab assignment before he returns.

PUIG’S DEFENSE

With a 17-1 lead, Puig wasn’t loafing on defense. Jordy Mercer lined a double into the right-field corner in the seventh and Corey Dickerson took off from second while Puig chased the ball into the corner. If Dickerson was thinking about trying to score, Puig wouldn’t have it. The Cuban threw a flat-footed strike from foul territory that held up Dickerson.

WORST LOSS

It was the Pirates’ worst loss since falling 20-0 to the Brewers on April 22, 2010, at home. The Bucs allowed season highs in runs and hits, while the Dodgers’ four homers tied a season high.

UP NEXT

Pirates RHP Ivan Nova (4-5, 4.02 ERA) starts on Tuesday. He is 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA in two career starts against the Dodgers. LHP Clayton Kershaw (1-4, 2.84) makes his third start for Los Angeles since coming off the DL. He is 2-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 11 career starts against the Pirates, with 69 strikeouts and 12 walks while holding their batters to a .221 average.

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