Red Sox 6, Royals 1
Darnell McDonald and Carl Crawford homered in back-to-back innings in support of starter Jon Lester, who remained dominant in the daytime as the Boston Red Sox defeated the host Kansas City Royals 6-1 Sunday afternoon.
The victory allowed Boston to keep pace with the New York Yankees, who defeated Minnesota 3-0 earlier Sunday. The Red Sox trail the Yankees by a half-game atop the American League East standings
Starting in place of the injured Jacoby Ellsbury (back), McDonald hit a one-out solo homer to left-center in the sixth to extend the Boston lead to 2-0. Crawford followed with a solo shot to right-center in the seventh, just his second round-tripper in 32 games since the All-Star break.
That was enough for Lester (13-6), who battled through six innings for his second straight victory. The veteran lefty allowed a run on three hits while walking four.
The victory improved Lester to 6-0 with a 1.55 ERA in eight matinee starts this season.
McDonald finished with three hits while rookie Ryan Lavarnway singled, doubled and drove in a run for the second straight day.
Royals rookie Danny Duffy (3-8) was strong in defeat, allowing two runs on five hits in six frames. He has dropped his last four decisions.