MJ Melendez continues red-hot stretch, but a wacky 4th inning cost Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals came up just short against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night. One night after collecting 15 hits against Red Sox pitching, the Royals were limited in a 4-3 loss at Fenway Park.
KC mustered seven hits in the game. Royals outfielder MJ Melendez provided the bulk of the offense with two home runs against Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta. It was Melendez’s second multi-home run game of his career. He last hit two homers against the Houston Astros on July 4, 2022.
“I’m trying to get ahead, especially the first at-bat,” Melendez said. “I’m just trying to get to the fastball there. It’s a pitcher (who) has dominated with that pitch so far. Just didn’t want to get beat on that specific pitch. I was able to get to a couple.”
Pivetta shook off the home runs. He allowed four hits and two runs across five innings. He also struck out eight batters as he picked up his eighth victory.
The Royals had their share of misfortunes. In the fourth inning, the Red Sox scored three runs after the Royals lost a baseball in the lights and had a ball bounce off a glove in the outfield.
Royals starter Jordan Lyles kept the team in the game. He allowed four runs in eight innings of work. Lyles threw 102 pitches and generated 22 called strikes and 11 whiffs.
“I thought overall we threw it pretty good and (I) was pretty efficient,” Lyles said. “Just other than the fourth — where the trouble started — it was a longer, big inning. Obviously, that’s what the game came down to. I thought we threw it better than the four runs we gave up.”
Lyles dropped to 3-13 with the loss.
The Royals made it interesting in the ninth inning. Royals catcher Freddy Fermin, who recently had a multi-homer game himself, hit a solo home run as KC pulled within one. However, Red Sox catcher Kenley Jansen closed the door for his 25th save.
The Royals dropped to 37-79 and will look for a series split on Thursday night.
Missed previous games of the series?
Game 1: Royals fall 6-2 as Red Sox earn controversial walk-off victory
Game 2: Royals club 15 hits in 9-3 rout against Red Sox
Here are more notables from Wednesday’s game:
Royals surrender three runs in wacky fourth inning
The Royals had their share of misfortune against the Red Sox. In the fourth inning, KC was on the wrong side of a string of bad bounces.
Royals second baseman Michael Massey lost track of a popup near the first-base line. Massey chased the baseball but couldn’t find it in the lights. The play resulted in Red Sox left fielder Masataka Yoshida recording a double.
“If it’s not twilight, I’m pretty sure Massey or Drew (Waters) makes that play,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “That’s how the inning got started.”
Four batters later, Melendez nearly hauled in a diving catch off the bat of Red Sox standout Alex Verdugo. The ball hit off his glove as two runners scored.
“It’s a tough play,” Melendez said. “Obviously, I think that is the difference in the game right there. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to come up with it. It kind of hit my glove and went out.”
Boston took a 3-2 lead. They added one more run later in the frame.
Red Sox second baseman Luis Urias lined out to third base. However, home plate umpire Emil Jimenez called catcher’s interference on Freddy Fermin.
Urias was awarded first base and the inning continued. Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire hit an RBI single to expand the lead.
The Royals never recovered as they dropped the third game of the series.
“It kind of ate at me throughout the game,” Melendez said. “It’s a tough play, but if I make that play, it could be the difference between a win and loss.”
Maikel Garcia extends hitting streak to 13 games
The Royals didn’t produce much offense on Wednesday night. Still, third baseman Maikel Garcia added to his recent hot streak.
Garcia pushed his career-best hitting streak to 13 games. He singled off Red Sox reliever Chris Martin in the eighth inning. Prior to Wednesday’s game, Garcia had the fourth-longest active hitting streak in the majors.
Garcia also matched Bobby Witt Jr.’s 13-game hitting streak from last season. Additionally, Witt had his jersey commemorated by the National Baseball Hall of Fame this week.
Baseball gets stuck in Green Monster
There was a rare oddity that occurred at Fenway Park Wednesday night. In the second inning, Royals outfielder Kyle Isbel hit a line drive that crushed a light fixture on the Green Monster.
The baseball was stuck in the fixture as Yoshida couldn’t find where landed. Upon review, Isbel was granted a ground-rule double.
What’s next: The Royals conclude their four-game series against the Red Sox. The Royals will start reliever Austin Cox in an opener role against Red Sox hurler James Paxton.
This story was originally published August 9, 2023 at 8:44 PM.
