Dustin Pedroia’s decisive RBI helps Boston Red Sox nip Kansas City Royals 4-3 - MLB Update
Boston Red Sox second baseman, Dustin Pedroia had a tremendous day with the bat as he hit three RBIs and went 3-for-4 with an average of .309 in the Red Sox 4-3 victory against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City on August 18.
Royals started particularly well as they scored their initial run at the bottom of first inning to get a 1-0 lead. Alex Gordon posted first run for Royals when Billy Butler hit a sacrifice fly to centre-field. Red Sox batters also conceded one run at the
top of second inning to tie the game 1-1. Josh Reddick added one run when Jason Varitek hit a single-run drive towards left-field and then got out to second base.
In the third inning, Red Sox contributed two runs to go-ahead while the Royals also scored two runs to again level the game at 3-3. Mike Aviles and Jacoby Ellsbury added two consecutive runs for Red Sox when Pedroia singled off centre-field. On the other
side, Gordon struck a two-run homer (396 feet) to left-field and Alcides Escobar posted a tie run for Royals.
Carl Crawford drove a single-run shot to right-field and then stole second base at the top of fourth inning, but the rest of his team-mates got out as Mike Aviles and Ryan Lavarnway both flied out to centre-field without taking runs.
Red Sox starter, Josh Beckett pitched perfectly as he threw seven innings and surrendered three runs, seven hits, one home-run and three earned runs with an ERA of 2.47. He struck-out four Royals’ batters on his 110 pitches. Beckett said, “I had to make
sure I stayed on the rubber, you know? I don't know if I've ever thrown somewhere where they have as drastically different bullpen from the mound.”
Red Sox manager, Terry Francona said, “He left a breaking ball up to Gordon, but I mean they got a good lineup. They got a good offensive lineup. They're aggressive.”
During fifth inning, Red Sox took a convincing 4-3 lead when Pedroia hit a single-run drive towards centre-field and Jed Lowrie scored a tie-breaking run. Then, Pedroia got out while moving towards second base. In the last four innings, the batters turned
down to play shots on tricky pitches.
However, Red Sox confirmed a 1-0 lead in the four-game series played at Kauffman Stadium.
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