Beckett's Fourth Inning Woes Lead To A Series Split With Royals (64-39)

Today, the Red Sox suffered a tough 4-3 loss at the hands of the Royals as the Red Sox bats were stifled by Luke Hochevar and the Royals. In the 3rd, after a single by Jason Varitek and a double off the green monster by Yamaico Navarro, the Sox were in a good spot to score with no outs and two runners in scoring position. And score is what they did as Jacoby Ellsbury laced a 2-run single down the right field line to make it 2-0. However, the Royals responded in the 4th, after walks to Alex Gordon and Mitch Maier to lead off the inning, Billy Butler deposited one into the center field seats to give the Royals a 3-2 lead. Later in the inning, back-to-back doubles by Jeff Franceour and Mike Moustakas made it 4-2 in the 4th. In the 8th inning, the Sox cut into the deficit as Dustin Pedroia homered over the green monster to extend his hitting streak to 25 games, and make it a 4-3 game, but it wasn't enough.

Outside of the 4th inning, Josh Beckett was very good, but overall he allowed 4 runs and struck out 8 in 7 innings, as he earned the loss and is now 9-4/2.09/115. He was relieved with Franklin Morales and Matt Albers with a scoreless inning each. Jacoby Ellsbury only went 1-4, but his one hit was big as it landed him 2 RBIs. Dustin Pedroia (left) went 1-3 with a solo home run, as he is now .308/15/54, as he is having a great season, even more so on this streak. Adrian Gonzalez went 2-4, raising his average to a fantastic .352 mark. Drew Sutton also had a good game offensively, going 2-4 despite a blunder in left field. Tomorrow, the Sox will head to Chicago to face the other Sox and will send Tim Wakefield (6-3/5.15/47) against Gavin Floyd (8-9/4.11/90) and the White Sox.

Bright Spots:

Josh Beckett- aside from the 4th inning, Beckett was very good, striking out 8

Franklin Morales- a scoreless inning of relief

Matt Albers- a scoreless inning of relief

Jacoby Ellsbury- 1-4 with a 2-run single

Dustin Pedroia- 1-3 with a solo home run

Adrian Gonzalez- 2-4

Drew Sutton- 2-4

Jason Varitek- 1-3 with a run scored

Yamaico Navarro- 1-4 with a run scored and a crushed double

Dull Spots:

Kevin Youkilis- 0-4 with a strikeout and 3 runners left on base

David Ortiz- 0-4 with a strikeout and 2 runners left on base

Josh Reddick- 0-4 with a strikeout

This was a tough game, and we split a series to the Royals, that's going to be a horror movie. Red Sox Split Series To Royals! Rated R for language and violence, I can see it now.