Royals’ losing ways return in series-opening defeat against Red Sox: what happened
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- Royals lost 3-1 to the Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium on Monday.
- That defeat was Kansas City’s sixth loss in their last seven games.
- Royals managed four major opportunities but produced only one run.
If the Kansas City Royals are going to terminate their current residency within the American League Central’s basement, they will need better offensive execution.
On Monday, the Royals fell short in a 3-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium. It was their sixth loss in seven games.
The Royals had their chances but wound up with nothing to show for it.
The early innings
The Royals (20-28) continued an unsightly trend with runners in scoring position (RISP). The club finished 1 for 7 and left five men on base.
KC had two runners aboard with one away in the second. Salvador Perez was hit by a pitch and Jac Caglianone doubled two batters later.
That set up a golden opportunity. The Royals simply needed to put the baseball in play to score the first run of the game.
Isaac Collins got the first chance. He looked at a 94.5 mph sinker and struck out on three pitches. Michael Massey also saw just three pitches before grounding out to end the inning.
“I went back and looked at those,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Collins’ at-bat. “It was a breaking ball right at the bottom of the (strike) zone, the cutter inside and then a front-hip two-seamer to Collins. Really challenging pitch sequence that (Red Sox starter Sonny Gray) executed.”
The Royals came up empty-handed.
The middle innings
A similar situation arose in the fifth inning.
This time, Massey hit a one-out double. He laced a 92.8 mph fastball from Gray into left field. Boston outfielder Masataka Yoshida couldn’t corral the ball; it carried just beyond his outstretched glove.
Massey represented the go-ahead run. Again, the Royals were set up to grab the lead with Kyle Isbel at the plate.
Isbel obliged with a single into left field. However, Yoshida made a terrific throw — on an admittedly aggressive base-running send — to nail Massey at home plate.
“I knew it was going to be close,” Massey said. “Got my secondary, I had to pause for a second, just because I think Nick (Sogard) maybe had a chance to catch it or pick it.
“I didn’t want to run into an out. ... But yeah, obviously, took a shot. It was a little bit of a tricky play there at the end with the catcher and trying to kind of dodge him.”
While the Royals were turned away a second time, the Red Sox capitalized in the top of the sixth.
Willson Contreras hit a two-run home run off Royals starter Seth Lugo. It was Contreras’ 10th homer of the season and gave Boston the run the Royals couldn’t produce. A sacrifice fly accounted for the final Red Sox run.
“I was trying to land the sinker inside, ran it too far in and then tried to make the adjustment,” Lugo said. “Just left it too far over the middle.”
He took the loss after allowing two earned runs across six innings. He threw 57 of his 93 pitches for strikes with two walks.
Later in the game, now facing a three-run deficit, the Royals had another chance to even the score.
In the seventh, Jac Caglianone drove in the Royals’ lone run with an RBI double. It was his second extra-base hit of the night after not starting on Sunday at St. Louis.
Caglianone stood on second base with no outs. But the Royals couldn’t bring him home: Collins struck out swinging against Red Sox right-hand reliever Justin Slaten, Massey grounded out and Isbel struck out.
The final chance
The Royals had one more opportunity.
In the eighth inning, star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. reached base with a one-out single. He represented the tying run with Vinnie Pasquantino and Perez due up.
Pasquantino struck out — his 15th strikout with runners in scoring position — and Perez grounded out. Witt was left on second after recording his 14th steal.
The ninth wasn’t any better. Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman, who not long ago played for the Royals, retired the side and Boston improved to 20-27.
Gray, a Royals nemesis throughout his career, struck out nine. He improved to 10-2 with a 1.74 ERA all-time against Kansas City.
“He’s really good at what he does,” Pasquantino said. “He spins the crap out of the ball. And he had the breaking ball working tonight, right underneath the (strike) zone, and we were biting on it. He was able to throw the cutter into lefties. He was backing up the sinker with two strikes.
“He just did a nice job and we didn’t do enough tonight.”
In the end, the Royals had four major opportunities that netted one run. Where the Red Sox took advantage, the Royals’ bats let them down.
And that proved to be the difference in the game.
What’s next: The Royals will use a bullpen day against the Red Sox on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium. Boston is set to start left-hander Ranger Suarez (2-2, 2.44 ERA), with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m. Central Time.
This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 8:51 PM.
