Rookie lefty Owens leads Red Sox past Royals 7-2

Royals 6, Red Sox 2.

Kansas City hitters battered Tazawa for a triple, a double and four singles in a four-run inning, a frame that culminated in a two-run Mike Moustakas double that gave the Royals the lead. Rios doubled to right.

Interim manager Torey Lovullo said he had made up his mind that Tazawa would either get the last out or lose the lead. He jumped on the first pitch from Volquez and laced it to the base of the Green Monster in left-center field, just the type of opposite-field swing Red Sox coaches so desperately wanted to see him take during his woeful offensive season a year ago.

Boston’s Hanley Ramirez reacts after lining out during the sixth inning.

Then in the seventh, Jackie Bradley Jr. would double again, knocking in Ryan Hanigan from first to take the lead. Ortiz hit a sacrifice fly to left fielder Zobrist, Sandoval scored. However, they have MLB’s best farm system, a major league team loaded with six contributing rookies and the financial wherewithal to compete with the biggest markets in baseball.

Trailing 2-1 in the fourth, the Royals scored twice, taking advantage of two errors on one play.

Mike Moustakas pointed toward the sky, having just drilled a go-ahead, two-run double.

The Red Sox got to Cueto for three runs in the second inning, two in the fourth, and two more in the sixth. He had allowed three or fewer runs in each of his four starts since being acquired from Cincinnati in late July. He struck out two.

Hosmer pushed his luck and bounded toward third. Adrian Beltre and Rangers Manager Jeff Banister were both ejected in the fifth inning.

The next inning, the Royals tied the game on what appeared to ben inning-ending double play off the bat of Kendrys Morales. The Red Sox have a 5-0 record in games where opponents scored that many runs. Rios and Infante have a hit apiece against him.

1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3 left on. Boston had won four of the five meetings with the AL Central leaders this season, and 10 of 12 since the start of 2014. Sabathia departed in the third inning with right knee pain.

In between, the Royals peppered Red Sox reliever Junichi Tazawa with four singles, a walk by Morales and then Moustakas’ decisive strike.

Cueto, though, assured that he has his teammates’ backs.

The poise and competitive fire is what served Owens so well in his first three starts, when his stuff wasn’t necessarily electric. “I’ve got to be able to take care of business offensively and defensively”. Miley is 2-1 with a 5.09 ERA in three career starts against the Royals. Including a 3-0 mark at Fenway Park, the Red Sox are 8-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Royals overall.

During the five-game stretch, the 25-year-old hit. The Cubs said the woman was conscious. It was an inning that just wouldn’t end until the lead was not only gone, but in Kansas City hands.

In Houston, Jason Castro’s solo homer in the 10th inning helped the Astros complete a three-game sweep. When Hosmer reached first base, the Royals trailed by a run. Gordon was with the Royals for the series opener Thursday and said the plan is to start as DH and alternate games with limited time in the outfield. Nor, he later added, has it been a contributing factor to his 6.61 ERA since the All-Star break. Mookie Betts and Brock Holt are 2 for 3 against Ventura.