Red Sox at Royals
Chris Sale sustained his first loss in seven weeks in his last outing despite turning in arguably his best performance of the season. The 28-year-old aims for a better end result on Tuesday, when the Boston Red Sox play the second contest of their three-game series against the host Kansas City Royals.
Jackie Bradley Jr. belted a two-run homer in Monday's 4-2 setback to highlight a three-hit performance and improve to 16-for-41 in his last 11 games, although he had a defensive play that proved costly in the loss. While the 27-year-old has been swinging a hot bat, Boston as a team is singing a different tune with just 11 runs during a 2-3 stretch after beginning its eight-game road trip with a 7-3 rout of Philadelphia. Kansas City has won eight of nine to inch within one game of the .500 mark, with Eric Hosmer going deep on Monday to give the team 19 homers in its last 10 contests. Lorenzo Cain, who is hitting .346 in 52 career at-bats versus Sale, recorded a pair of singles in the opener to improve to 13-for-28 during his seven-game hitting streak.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), FSN Kansas City
PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox LH Chris Sale (8-3, 2.82 ERA) vs. Royals LH Matt Strahm (2-3, 3.67)
Sale fanned 10 on Thursday to reach double digits in strikeouts for the ninth time in his last 13 outings, only to be undone by a stray run in a 1-0 setback against the struggling Phillies. He allowed just four hits and even registered one of his own in the losing effort. Sale owns a 9-10 career record and 2.97 ERA versus Kansas City, although the Royals have batted .277 against him.
Strahm acquitted himself well in his first major-league start on Thursday after making 41 appearances as a reliever over the last two seasons. The 25-year-old allowed one unearned run and three hits in five innings of a 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. "I don't ever feel like I conserve anything. Competing every pitch and just try to be as effective as possible with every pitch," Strahm, who has been pressed into the starting rotation because of injuries to Danny Duffy and Nathan Karns, told reporters.
WALK-OFFS
1. Kansas City C Salvador Perez, who came in as a defensive replacement late in the opener, has recorded three homers, seven RBIs and nine runs scored during his 10-game hitting streak.
2. Red Sox SS Xander Bogaerts notched a pair of singles in the opener to extend his hitting streak versus the Royals to 17 games.
3. Kansas City LF Alex Gordon is 1-for-10 with five strikeouts in his last three contests.