Kendrys Morales keys Royals’ rally in 7-4 victory over Red Sox

Kendrys Morales turned 32 on Saturday, and he shimmied through a sweltering dugout a few hours before game time accepting well wishes from fans, broadcasters and team executives. His real present would not arrive until 8 p.m. on the dot, midway through Kansas City’s five-inning battering of Boston, when Rick Porcello gifted him a belt-high, two-seam sinker.

The sinker is meant to dive downward as he approaches the plate, a sudden, late shift that interrupts the rhythm of a hitter and produces groundballs. Porcello did not complete his objective. The pitch was fat, worthy of punishment, and Morales unleashed a two-run homer that capped a five-run frame in a 7-4 victory.

In their ninth win in the past 12 games, the Royals, 39-26, erased a three-run deficit in the fifth. Along the way they exploited a string of mistakes by the free-falling Red Sox. Before Morales cleared the right-field fence, Boston completed an inglorious trifecta: A hit batsman, a balk and a game-tying throwing error.

The error, committed at third base by former Giant Pablo Sandoval, allowed Alcides Escobar to score from third. Sandoval lunged to scoop a grounder off Lorenzo Cain’s bat and attempted a tag on Escobar at the bag. His left leg buckled as he sprayed a throw up the right-field line.

Morales entered the batter’s box a few moments later. He had already watched the team run into the last out of an inning when he stood at the plate. With two outs, he longed for an opportunity to go deep on his birthday. He had already done it twice before, in 2009 and 2012. Given a chance by Porcello, Morales did it again.

The rally started six batters earlier. Porcello drilled Alex Rios to open the frame. The Royals executed a textbook hit-and-run to place runners at the corners: Rios ran with the pitch and second baseman Omar Infante stroked a groundball in the space vacated by the shortstop. An RBI single by Escobar cut the deficit to 4-2.

Porcello prepared to throw a 1-0 pitch to Mike Moustakas when second-base umpire Dan Bellino intervened. He called a balk, which advanced both runners into scoring position. Moustakas lifted a sacrifice fly to center. The Royals trailed by a run, and the script was written for Cain’s grounder, Sandoval’s error and Morales’ homer.

As the Royals took batting practice, the temperature climbed toward triple digits. The heat registered at 94 degrees when Edinson Volquez threw the game’s first pitch at 6:11 p.m. Three tosses into the game, the Royals trailed by one.

Volquez fed rookie Mookie Betts a 93-mph fastball at the belt. Betts is a 22-year-old with the potential for stardom. He connected with the fastball and powered it over the Sprint sign in left-center field.

The Royals tangled with Porcello, a familiar foe, one who spent the past six seasons in Detroit. The team appeared confident in their ability to run on Porcello. Lorenzo Cain stole two bases in the very first inning. But the club may have become overzealous with runners at the corners and two outs that frame.

With Morales at the plate, Eric Hosmer bolted toward second base. He pulled up as second baseman Dustin Pedroia caught a feed from behind the plate. It was a repeat of a botched double steal from the American League Wild Card Game, and with the same result. Cain ran home with the vain hope of fooling the Red Sox.

Pedroia did not fall for the ruse. He returned the baseball to catcher Blake Swihart. Cain was out by several steps.

The Royals did not require trickery to tie the proceedings. Salvador Perez rocked a fastball for his 11th home run of the season in the second. An inning later, Escobar singled and Moustakas doubled. But Cain hit into a grounder to shortstop Brock Holt, and Escobar was thrown out for Kansas City’s second out at the plate on the day.

The Red Sox reclaimed the lead with a pair of doubles in the third. Betts bewildered Kansas City again two innings later. Swihart started a two-run sequence for Boston when he beat Volquez to the bag on an infield single. Betts singled soon after.

Hosmer swept across the diamond to throw out Swihart at third base on a grounder by Brock Holt, but Betts advanced to second. He was running toward third when Pedroia tapper a ball in front of the mound. Betts never hesitated as he rounded third for another Red Sox run. Hanley Ramirez chipped in an RBI single.

Down by three runs, the Royals headed into the bottom of the fifth. They would emerge ahead by two runs, ready to run away with another victory.

Royals 7, Red Sox 4

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a-struck out for Swihart in the 6th.

1-ran for Ortiz in the 7th.

E: Sandoval (10). LOB: Boston 9, Kansas City 6. 2B: B.Holt (13), Swihart (7), Moustakas (14). 3B: De Aza (3). HR: Betts (7), off Volquez; S.Perez (11), off Porcello; K.Morales (8), off Porcello. RBIs: Betts (31), B.Holt (16), Pedroia (28), H.Ramirez (36), A.Escobar (26), Moustakas 2 (27), K.Morales 2 (45), S.Perez (30). SB: L.Cain 3 (14), Rios (3). CS: L.Cain (3). S: Betts. SF: Moustakas.

Runners left in scoring position: Boston 3 (Ortiz, Sandoval, Betts); Kansas City 3 (Hosmer 3). RISP: Boston 2 for 9; Kansas City 4 for 10. Runners moved up: Pedroia 2, Hosmer, Infante. GIDP: Moustakas. DP: Boston 2 (Pedroia, B.Holt, Napoli), (Pedroia, Napoli).

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Hold: Morales (3), Madson (8), Herrera (10), Davis (8). Inherited runners-scored: Layne 1-1, F.Morales 1-0, Madson 1-0. HBP: by Porcello (A.Escobar, Rios). Balk: Porcello.

Umpires: Home, Bruce Dreckman; First, Alfonso Marquez; Second, Dan Bellino; Third, Tom Hallion. Time:3:09. Att:39,115.

This story was originally published June 20, 2015 at 9:21 PM with the headline "Kendrys Morales keys Royals’ rally in 7-4 victory over Red Sox."