KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) –
Paulo Orlando hit a two-run homer, Eric Hosmer also went deep and the Kansas City Royals beat the hot-hitting Boston Red Sox 8-4 on Tuesday night in the opener of their three-game series.
Orlando also tripled and had a two-run single. Omar Infante and Alcides Escobar drove in runs as Kansas City continued to slowly break out of its season-long offensive funk.
Yordano Ventura (4-2), who has struggled with walks all season, issued one free pass in 5 2/3 innings for Kansas City. He allowed four runs and seven hits before exiting with a one-run lead.
Orlando’s homer highlighted a three-run eighth that gave the Royals some breathing room.
Rick Porcello (6-2) gave up five runs, four earned, on eight hits and two walks for Boston. He lasted five-plus innings, his shortest start since going two innings against the White Sox last July.
Travis Shaw hit a three-run homer to provide most of the Red Sox offense.
Boston actually struck first when Jackie Bradley Jr. extended his hitting streak to 22 games with an RBI double in the second, but Kansas City quickly answered in the third. Escobar drove in Orlando shortly before Hosmer belted a two-out pitch over the center-field wall for a 2-1 lead.
Things unraveled for Porcello in the fourth when he gave up three runs on four consecutive one-out singles, matching the second-most runs he’d allowed in a start all season. And while Porcello got through that inning and the fifth, he failed to retire a batter before getting yanked in the sixth.
It was the first time in 16 starts Porcello did not last six innings.
Boston tried to bail him out in the top of the sixth when Shaw swatted a three-run homer, giving the Red Sox a home run in 17 consecutive games. The franchise record is 19 set in July 1996.
The comeback was squelched by Kansas City’s resolute bullpen.
Luke Hochevar got the final out of the sixth and worked a perfect seventh, and Salvador Perez threw out Xander Bogaerts trying to steal second to wipe out the potential tying run in the eighth.
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