Alex Cora on Tuesday night kept watching the Red Sox hammer pitches right at the Kansas City Royals during the first few innings and the Boston skipper was confident that eventually some of them would find their way through.
The Red Sox’s Eduardo Nunez finally solved the problem by depositing a pitch over the fence.
His pinch-hit, three-run homer in the eighth inning broke open what had been a nip-and-tuck game, and the Red Sox went on to beat the Royals 8-3 to open a grueling stretch of 17 games in 16 days.
Photo: Jay Biggerstaff-USA Today
“We were swinging the bat well. I know we didn’t score early, but that was the hardest we’d hit the ball all season,” Cora said. “Eventually we got some results.”
Rafael Devers also drove in a pair of runs for the Red Sox, while Eduardo Rodriguez (6-3) kept the Royals at bay over 5-2/3 innings. He allowed just six hits while striking out seven, his only mistake a pitch in the second that Cheslor Cuthbert sent to left field for a two-run homer.
Glenn Sparkman matched Rodriguez most of the way, but he left a runner on base when he was lifted with one out in the sixth. Scott Barlow (1-2) promptly gave up the lead with a miserable relief outing, and Nunez’s homer off Jake Diekman in the eighth inning was merely the finishing touch.
The Red Sox improved to 9-1 in Rodriguez’s past 10 starts.
“I think the only pitch I missed was the one that he hit the homer,” Rodriguez said. “Everybody believes in this offense. We’ve just got to keep the game close when we’re out there.”
Meanwhile, the woebegone Royals lost for an American League-leading 20th time when they had the lead.
Even more frustrating for Kansas City: Sparkman was slicing up Boston’s lineup, allowing just two hits through five innings.
However, after Mookie Betts’ leadoff double in the sixth and Andrew Benintendi’s fly out, Sparkman was yanked by manager Ned Yost, despite having thrown just 80 pitches.
“I felt really good, but I hadn’t gone that high, so 85 was probably the limit,” Sparkman said.
Barlow entered the game and the spark went out of the Royals.
J.D. Martinez delivered an RBI triple, Devers drew a walk and Xander Bogaerts added a sacrifice fly to knot the game at 2-2. Brock Holt followed with a double to give the Red Sox their first lead.
“Cuthbert’s home run was good. We took a two-run lead going to the sixth there,” Yost said. “Sparkman’s high-water mark was 68 pitches, so we were going to take him to 80 or around there. He got right to the 80 mark. We decided to bring in one of our most productive relievers.”
It was still 3-2 in the eighth when Nunez connected for Boston’s second pinch-hit homer this season.
“It was a matter of having good at-bats and getting to the bullpen,” Cora said.
In other results, it was:
‧ Nationals 9, White Sox 5
‧ Giants 9, Mets 3, 10 innings
‧ Blue Jays 4, Yankees 3
‧ Tigers 9, Rays 6
‧ Indians 5, Twins 2
‧ Braves 12, Pirates 5
‧ Marlins 16, Brewers 0
‧ Cubs 6, Rockies 3
‧ Orioles 12, Rangers 11
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