Royals win one, lose one in doubleheader with Red Sox

Before nightfall Wednesday, the Royals had clinched their second straight winning series, no small sense of relief after dropping the previous five and losing the momentum gained over the season’s first three weeks.

A 5-2 loss to the Red Sox in the second game of a split double header prevented a Royals sweep, but they head into a weekend series against the Central Division leading White Sox a more confident team than they were last week after taking two of three from baseball’s hottest hitting team.

“That’s a really tough club,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “They were extremely hot coming in here, and we played them very, very well.”

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The Royals stand 20-20, and a non-losing mark at this juncture was assured with Wednesday’s 3-2 triumph in the dramatic afternoon opening game. Right fielder Jarrod Dyson, playing in a platoon system with Paulo Orlando, provided the late game heroics.

Dyson’s sixth-inning triple resulted in the go-ahead run, and his rocket throw to prevent Xander Bogaerts from traveling from first to third with one out in the eighth preserved the Royals’ third straight victory.

“Just trying to do my job, to go out there and make plays,” Dyson said.

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A night earlier, Paulo Orlando was the game’s star, driving in four runs in an 8-4 victory in the series opener. The pair has shared the job with Orlando’s hotter bat resulting in more playing time lately. But Dyson restated his case.

When he came to bat in the sixth, the Royals had lost a 2-0 lead, built on Eric Hosmer’s two-run homer in the first inning, his second blast in two games and team-leading eighth of the season. The Royals didn’t have another hit until Dyson sent his laser down the right field line.

Dyson stumbled out of the batter’s box but right fielder Mookie Betts didn’t field it cleanly, and Dyson made it to third easily.

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One out later, Lorenzo Cain worked a full count from knuckle ball pitcher Steven Wright before lofting a fly ball deep enough to left field to score Dyson.

“Probably one of the better knuckballers I’ve seen in a while,” Cain said. “The ball is moving all over the place. It’s hard to tell where the ball is going to end up. I was just trying to put something up in the air deep enough to score Dyson.”

Now it was up to pitching and defense to hold off a Red Sox team that began the series as the hottest in baseball, at least from the plate. They averaged more than 10 runs and 14 hits over their previous seven games.

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Royals starter Ian Kennedy did his part, striking out nine and walking one in 5 2/3. His day ended in the six when manager Ned Yost summoned lefty Brian Flynn to to face the left handed hitting Jackie Bradley Jr..

The move paid off as Bradley waved at strike three. But Bradley would have his moment in the second game with a solo home run that opened the scoring and extended his baseball best hitting streak to 24 games.

Flynn, acquired by the Royals from the Marlins in the Aaron Crow trade after the 2014 season, watched Dyson score in the sixth and understood what that meant. If Royals maintained the lead, Flynn would have his first Major League victory.

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“I was keeping my eye on that,” Flynn said. “I might have been cheering a little extra.”

The nightcap brought David Price to the mound, looking for a better result than his last trips to Kauffman Stadium. He was the Blue Jays’ starting pitcher for the second and sixth games of the American League Championship Series, both games won by the Royals, the second sending them to the World Series.

The Red Sox staked Price to a 2-0 lead on solo home runs by Jackie Bradley Jr., in the second and Mookie Betts in the third off Royals starter Edinson Volquez, who fell to 4-4 with the loss. Bradley’s shot extended his baseball-best hitting streak to 24 games.

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The Royals got one back on Salvador Perez’s solo home run to center in the fourth. In the eighth, Lorenzo Cain singled home Alcides Escobar, who had doubled.

That was it for the scoring, but the game was unforgettable for a pair of Royals.

Outfielder Whit Merrifield and right-handed pitcher Alec Mills made their major league debuts in their first day in a Royals uniform.

Merrifield started in left field as Alex Gordon sat for the first time this season. Merrifield popped out in his first plate appearance, then singled through the left side against Price in his second.

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“It’s hard to explain,” Merrifield said. “You work your whole life to get to this level. To get it off a guy like Price, that’s icing on top.”

Mills, added to the roster as an extra player for a double header, opened the eighth inning and surrendered one run before leaving with two outs and the bases loaded.

“Didn’t go as well as I planned or wanted it to,” Mills said. “But it was a blast. Running out there was a little nervous, and the first pitch. After that I didn’t feel it as much but I still was because I was rushing everything delivery-wise.”

Wednesday’s second game summary

Red Sox 5, Royals 2

LOB: Boston 10, Kansas City 4. 2B: Betts (8), Rutledge (6), Escobar (5), Morales (6). HR: Bradley Jr. (7), off Volquez; Betts (7), off Volquez; Perez (6), off Price. RBIs: Betts (28), Bradley Jr. (32), Vazquez 3 (5), Cain (20), Perez (21). SB: Rutledge (2).

Runners left in scoring position: Boston 5 (Ortiz 2, Shaw, Vazquez, Holt); Kansas City 2 (Cain, Infante). RISP: Boston 1 for 9; Kansas City 1 for 6. Runners moved up: Ortiz, Vazquez. LIDP: Hosmer. GIDP: Bogaerts, Ramirez, Perez. DP: Boston 2 (Betts, Ramirez), (Bogaerts, Rutledge, Ramirez); Kansas City 2 (Cuthbert, Infante, Hosmer), (Escobar, Infante, Hosmer).

Inherited runners-scored: Tazawa 1-1, Alexander 1-0, Wang 3-0. IBB: off Volquez (Bradley Jr.). HBP: Mills (Betts), Kimbrel (Morales).

Umpires: Home, Pat Hoberg; First, Todd Tichenor; Second, Bill Miller; Third, Clint Fagan. Time: 3:06. Att: 23,739.

Wednesday’s first game summary

Royals 3, Red Sox 2

a-grounded out for Rutledge in the 9th. b-out on fielder’s choice for Young in the 9th. c-flied out for Hanigan in the 9th.

LOB: Boston 7, Kansas City 2. 2B: Pedroia (9). 3B: Dyson (1). HR: Young (1), off Kennedy; Hosmer (8), off Wright. RBIs: Ortiz (34), Young (5), Cain (19), Hosmer 2 (20). SB: Escobar 2 (10). SF: Cain.

Runners left in scoring position: Boston 2 (Bogaerts, Bradley Jr.); Kansas City 1 (Cain). RISP: Boston 2 for 6; Kansas City 1 for 3. GIDP: Butera. DP: Boston 1 (Rutledge, Pedroia, Shaw).

Holds: Herrera (10), Hochevar (7). Inherited runners-scored: Flynn 1-0. WP: Kennedy. PB: Hanigan (9).

Umpires: Home, Brian Knight; First, Clint Fagan; Second, Todd Tichenor; Third, Bill Miller. Time: 2:23. Att: 33,613.

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Royals win one, lose one in doubleheader with Red Sox."