Ranger Suarez’s streak of 19 consecutive scoreless innings came to an end in a long bottom of the first in which the Kansas City Royals instantly erased a 1-0 Boston Red Sox lead.
But the game-tying run the Red Sox starter allowed in the first inning proved the only run, not only of his 4 1/3 inning outing, but of the Royals’ entire night.
And the Red Sox, who clung to a one-run lead for most of the night before finally breaking through in a big way in the ninth, won the series with a resounding 7-1 victory.
The new Sox southpaw yielded four hits, issued three walks and struck out three on 81 pitches, only 46 of which were for strikes. Suarez threw 32 pitches in the bottom of the first, but managed to somewhat settled in from there.
Suarez’s night came to an end when Carter Jensen led off the bottom of the fifth with a double. Jensen advanced to third as Maikel Garcia singled to right and was thrown out at second on the relay from right fielder Wilyer Abreu to catcher Carlos Narváez to shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa. If not for a tremendous leaping catch by left fielder Jarren Duran, Salvador Perez’s two-out liner to deep left would’ve easily brought Jensen home.
Even with two shaky starts to begin his Red Sox tenure, Suarez has been as advertised, if not better. He owns a 2.40 ERA over nine total starts, five of which were scoreless. Suarez’s 1.12 ERA over his last seven is the best mark by a Sox starter in a seven-game span within a single season since Chris Sale in 2018 and Luis Tiant in 1972, according to StatHead.
The Red Sox took an immediate 1-0 lead against opener Bailey Falter in the top of the first. Duran led off with a walk and stole his 10th base of the season to put himself in easy scoring position for Abreu’s one-out RBI single. The Red Sox were poised to tack on when Willson Contreras singled to put two men on with one out, only for designated hitter Andruw Monasterio to ground into a double play on the very next pitch.
Boston had a prime opportunity in the top of the second, when Falter allowed four men to reach after recording the first out. Narváez walked, advanced to second on Kiner-Falefa’s single, and regained the lead on Caleb Durbin’s first-pitch RBI single. Duran’s second walk in as many innings loaded the bases, but a pair of non-competitive at-bats by Ceddanne Rafaela and Abreu brought the lineup’s momentum to a screeching half.
The Boston bullpen is growing accustomed to preserving the slimmest leads, and maintained the one-run advantage until Rafaela and Contreras created some much-needed breathing room in the top of the eighth. With right-hander Nick Mears on the mound, Rafaela led off with his seventh double of the season and advanced to third on an Abreu lineout to left. Contreras’ hard infield groundout brought Rafaela home for a 3-1 Red Sox lead.
Tyler Samaniego’s streak of 13 consecutive scoreless appearances to begin his MLB career was the second-longest stretch in Red Sox history, before he gave up a two-run homer to Kyle Schwarber in the eighth inning of a scoreless series finale against the Phillies on May 14. The rookie left-hander then gave up the walkoff RBI double to Mike Yastrzemski in the 10th inning the following night in Atlanta.
Tuesday night wasn’t quite smooth sailing, but the Royals helped Samaniego pitch a scoreless bottom of the seventh. Righty Zack Kelly left behind a man on first, Lane Thomas, who led off with a single. Samaniego yielded a one-out single to Starling Marte, but the Royals only had two men on base for a matter of seconds, as the Sox southpaw threw to Durbin at third to catch Thomas stealing. Marte advanced to second on a passed ball by Narváez, but Samaniego got Vinnie Pasquantino to line out to right field to end the threat.
Justin Slaten and Garrett Whitlock pitched a perfect seventh and eighth, respectively. Tuesday marked Slaten’s ninth consecutive scoreless appearance to begin the season. Whitlock needed just seven pitches, all of which were for strikes, to complete the eighth inning.
A four-run bonanza in the top of the ninth meant veteran closer Aroldis Chapman could take the night off. Nick Sogard began the inning with a single off Eli Morgan, and Kiner-Falefa and pinch-hitter Mickey Gasper followed with back-to-back one-out singles, the latter of which saw Sogard out at home on the throw from right-fielder Jac Caglianone. But then Duran’s fifth home run of the year soared to right and Boston’s lead doubled to 6-1, and Chapman stopped warming up and sat back down in the visitors’ bullpen.
Three straight singles by Rafaela, Abreu, and Contreras brought in a seventh Red Sox run before Morgan finished the top of the ninth.
Instead it was left-hander Jovani Morán who came in and blew away the Royals in the bottom of the ninth.
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