Red Sox 7, Royals 2
BOSTON -- Rookie left-hander Henry Owens pitched eight solid innings, Josh Rutledge hit a two-run homer and the Boston Red Sox handed Johnny Cueto his worst start since he was picked up by Kansas City, beating the Royals 7-2 on Friday night.
Catcher Blake Swihart had four hits and drove in two runs and center fielder Mookie Betts had a double and two singles for the Red Sox, who improved to 10-2 against the Royals in the last two seasons.
Boston won its fourth straight, improving to 3-0 since Dave Dombrowski was hired as president of baseball operations.
Owens (2-1), making just his fourth major league start, gave up two runs (one earned) and four hits, walking one and striking out four.
Shortstop Alcides Escobar had a solo homer for the Royals, who lost their second straight after a five-game winning streak.
Cueto (2-2) was tagged for seven runs and 13 hits in six innings. He had allowed three or fewer runs in each of his four starts since being acquired from Cincinnati in late July.
Rutledge homered into the Green Monster seats, making it 7-2 in the sixth inning, on a night when the Red Sox put up a solid offensive performance against one of the American League's top pitchers.
Cueto came in with a 2.46 ERA, ranked 10th in the majors. Boston entered with a 9-9 record against pitchers that were in the top 15 in the AL's ERA leaders.
With storm clouds on the horizon beyond the Green Monster, the Red Sox grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second. Swihart had an RBI double and right fielder Rusney Castillo scored when Escobar didn't handle left fielder Paulo Orlando's throw for an error. Center fielder Mookie Betts added an RBI single.
Owens walked the first batter of the game and then retired the next nine, including six on fly balls, before third baseman Ben Zobrist doubled on the first pitch of the fourth. One out later, he scored when left fielder Hanley Ramirez bobbled first baseman Eric Hosmer's single for an error.
Boston added two runs in the fourth to make it 5-1. Swihart had a run-scoring single after Castillo tripled over the head of center fielder Lorenzo Cain. Betts singled and Swihart scored when Cain pushed the ball about 25 field away trying to scoop a short hop.
The 23-year-old Owens looked sharp from the start, mixing his fastball in the low 90s with a solid changeup.
NOTES: Boston RHP Clay Buchholz may not pitch again this season. He received a plasma-rich platelet injection in his elbow after the all-star break and went to see Dr. James Andrews last week to confirm he could throw again. "He wasn't cleared 100 percent to begin all throwing activities," Red Sox interim manager Torey Lovullo said. The thought was he would originally be back in early September. ... Lovullo also said UTL Brock Holt was out of the lineup because he's "a little banged up." ... Royals OF Alex Gordon is set to begin a rehab stint with Triple-A Omaha on Saturday. He has been on the DL since July 9 with a strained groin. ... RHP Matt Barnes (3-3) is set to make his second big-league start Saturday night for the Red Sox against Kansas City RHP Yordano Ventura (7-7). ... Red Sox manager John Farrell, who started chemotherapy for Stage 1 Lymphoma this week, was at Fenway Park for a team picture.