Daisuke Matsuzaka leads Boston Red Sox to 5-1 win against Kansas City Royals – MLB Update
Boston Red Sox used their home conditions superbly to register an emphatic win over the Kansas City Royals 5-1 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts on Monday, August 27 in the finale of their four match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular
season.
Royals took the early 1-0 lead, thanks to Alex Gordon who hit a sacrifice fly to right. Red Sox responded immediately as Jacoby Ellsbury homered to right in the first inning to level the score 1-1. Cody Ross drove in vital runs in the third and sixth to
extend the lead to 4-1 while first baseman James Loney added a single to left centre to deny Royals any chance of coming back into the contest.
Red Sox’s starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched seven solid innings, allowing just five hits and a run with six strike-outs to grab his first win of the season. Relief pitcher Andrew Bailey pitched the perfect ninth to help the Red Sox hold on to their
four run lead.
"I tried back in June and I didn't get the results I wanted. I didn't feel like I'd be able to come back strong again this season," Matsuzaka said through a translator. "I went back to my final two rehab starts and threw the ball really well. I knew if I
could do that up here the results would come."
"Obviously he's going to get another start -- two, three, four or five," Boston manager Bobby Valentine said. "He might finish strong throwing like that."
Manager Bobby Valentine will be very pleased with his team’s effort in a game that was extremely important to them. The Red Sox may be out of the playoffs race but they are hoping to give their fans something to cheer about in this final quarter of the season.
Boston edged the Royals in the series opener and although they lost their way in Game 2, they bounced back strongly in Game 3 and Game 4 to secure a much needed series win. It will be interesting to see if they take this momentum into the next series to
stretch their winning streak.
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