Deadspin | Red Sox eager to regroup around Sonny Gray in visit to Royals

Whereas the Boston Red Sox proceed to wrestle, they’ve performed effectively with Sonny Gray on the mound this season.

In the meantime, the Kansas Metropolis Royals have not loved a lot success of late when Seth Lugo has pitched.

With these veterans squaring off, these last-place groups will open a three-game set at Kansas Metropolis on Monday evening.

Sitting on the backside of American League East, Boston is 3-6 whereas dropping three consecutive sequence. The Red Sox have simply 14 runs over the past eight video games and — though they’d 9 hits on Sunday — they stranded 9 runners throughout an 8-1 loss to Atlanta.

“It is powerful,” Boston interim supervisor Chad Tracy mentioned. “Flipside, there isn’t any comfort prizes right here. We have got to win video games.

“We are literally having higher at-bats, however we have to discover a method to get runs.

The Red Sox have 19 victories this season, with 5 coming among the many seven begins made by Gray (4-1, 3.18 ERA). They’ve received the final three video games began by the right-hander, who has yielded one run, six hits and three walks over 11 innings to win his two begins since coming off the harm listing from a strained hamstring.

“You’re feeling very assured with the blokes that now we have behind us. They’re elite,” Gray mentioned of his teammates.

That run got here through a solo homer Wednesday towards Philadelphia, when Gray allowed one different hit, a stroll and struck out six over six innings of Boston’s 3-1 house victory.

Although Gray has not confronted the Royals since 2023, he is 9-2 with a 1.76 ERA in 13 profession begins towards them.

Kansas Metropolis, which shares the basement in the AL Central with Detroit, snapped its six-game shedding streak Sunday with a 2-0 win at St. Louis. Salvador Perez hit a solo homer and drove in each runs, whereas Stephen Kolek pitched 6 1/3 sturdy innings.

“Simply strive to overlook how we performed the final (few) days,” Perez informed Royals.TV. “This group, we flip the web page fast.”

Although Perez got here up huge Sunday, he is 6-for-34 all time towards Gray.

Seth Lugo (1-3, 3.76 ERA), Monday’s scheduled starter for Kansas Metropolis, allowed simply 5 runs — 4 earned — and 19 hits over 31 1/3 innings of his first 5 begins this season. In 4 outings since, nevertheless, the right-hander has yielded 18 runs and a whopping 37 hits over 21 1/3 frames.

5 of these runs and eight hits have been surrendered by way of 5 innings Wednesday towards the Chicago White Sox, as Lugo dropped his second straight sport. He did file his 1,000th profession strikeout in that contest.

“(The milestone) means so much, however that is not my objective proper now,” mentioned Lugo, 36. “The objective is profitable. That is the place my priorities are.”

A profitable resolution just isn’t one thing Lugo has skilled towards the Red Sox, going 0-3 with a 6.61 ERA in three begins — all with Kansas Metropolis.

Boston’s Jarren Duran and Willson Contreras every have three hits in the final two video games. These two, together with teammate Wilyer Abreu, who’s batting .300 this season, are a mixed 9-for-24 towards Lugo.

–Subject Stage Media