The Red Sox will be more than happy to flip the page on their calendar after going 13-15 in August and coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Astros.
After a day off following their 1-5 homestand, the Sox open a six-game road trip at Kansas City Friday night. Perhaps a three-game series with the Royals, owners of the second-worst record in MLB, will be an elixir for the struggling Sox.
Once the weekend series with the Royals concludes, the Red Sox will head to Tampa for a three-game series with the Rays beginning Monday afternoon.
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Lineups
RED SOX (69-65): Verdugo RF, Devers 3B, Turner DH, Casas 1B, Duvall CF, Yoshida LF, Story SS, Urías 2B, Wong C.
Pitching: LHP James Paxton (7-4, 3.99 ERA)
ROYALS (41-94): Garcia 3B, Witt Jr. SS, Perez 1B, Massey 2B, Fermin C, Velazquez LF, Waters RF, Loftin DH, Isbel CF.
Pitching: RHP Jordan Lyles (3-15, 6.51 ERA)
Time: 8:10 p.m.
TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7
Red Sox vs. Lyles: Triston Casas 1-3, Rafael Devers 6-19, Adam Duvall 1-6, Reese McGuire 1-8, Rob Refsnyder 3-3, Trevor Story 3-24, Justin Turner 4-9, Luis Urías 1-4, Alex Verdugo 5-18, Masataka Yoshida 1-4
Royals vs. Paxton: Dairon Blanco 1-2, Matt Duffy 1-3, Freddy Fermin 0-2, Maikel Garcia 2-3, Michael Massey 1-3, MJ Melendez 1-2, Salvador Perez 4-15, Samad Taylor 0-2, Bobby Witt Jr. 1-3
Stat of the day: Adam Duvall is on a 10-game hitting streak, with extra-base hits in the last five. He is 18-for-39 with six doubles, seven home runs, 15 RBIs, and four walks in the run.
Notes: Paxton is 4-0 with a 1.51 ERA in eight career starts against the Royals, including 5⅓ shutout innings against them at Fenway on Aug. 10 … Lyles is 2-3 with a 6.66 ERA in 10 career starts against Boston … Bobby Witt Jr. hit .324 with nine homers and 16 extra-base hits in August; he had a pair of doubles as Kansas City lost three of four in Boston. He needs three home runs in September to become the first player in franchise history to achieve 30 homers and 30 stolen bases — he has 38 — in the same season.
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