The Red Sox beat the Royals 7-1 on a night when Kansas City kept handing Boston extra chances and Boston kept taking them. A first-inning replay call went the Red Sox's way, then they moved in front in the top of the next inning after a Royals defensive miscue.
Kansas City had already been forced to change its plan before the game even started, scratching Kris Bubic because of elbow soreness and turning to Bailey Falter, who arrived with a 10.13 ERA. Falter lasted two innings, and seven of the 12 batters he faced reached base, though his ERA still dropped to 9.82 after the outing. The Royals' problems did not stop there. With runners on the corners and nobody out in a one-run game, Maikel Garcia was thrown out trying to advance to second base, and Zack Kelly escaped the jam after Chad Tracy pulled Ranger Suarez.
Boston's defense did its part early, too. Jarren Duran made a play in the second inning that helped Ranger Suarez settle in for a few frames, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa reached base as the Red Sox kept pressure on Kansas City. The Royals then wasted another chance in the bottom of the sixth with poor baserunning, a sequence that fit the night as a whole: Boston was not overpowering, but Kansas City kept failing to turn opportunities into runs.
The Red Sox then began to separate in the late innings. Justin Slaten worked a scoreless seventh for Boston, Garrett Whitlock followed with a scoreless eighth, and the game stayed out of reach until Duran broke it open in the ninth with a three-run homer. Duran reached base four times overall, the kind of night that put his name all over a game Boston controlled without ever needing a long surge.
That made the final score look cleaner than the path to it. The Red Sox won because the Royals kept giving away outs, extra bases and momentum, and because Boston was sharp enough to cash in each time the game tilted back toward it. For Kansas City, the missed chances will sting more than the 7-1 margin itself.
