Royals fall to Red Sox in rubber match action

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

For the second-straight game, the Boston pitching staff had Kansas City's number.

On Sunday, the Royals lost the series rubber match to the Red Sox, 3-1, in a defeat that snapped the club's five-series win streak and dropped them to 24-18 overall

Skipper Matt Quatraro's team only mustered four hits against Boston, as Lucas Giolito recorded his first win on the hill since 2023. The Boston starter threw for 6.2 innings and didn't allow any earned runs on just two hits, while fanning five batters. In fact, the only Kansas City run of the day came on a throwing error to third by Giolito, in his otherwise dazzling outing.

Despite the loss, Royals starter Seth Lugo actually ended up with a solid outing for his team. He threw for 6.0 innings and only made two real mistakes the entire day. The first was a solo home run off the bat of Wilyer Abreu, which tied up the game at one in the fourth. The second was the game-winning two-run from Rafael Devers in the sixth inning.

The real culprit of the series loss was KC's struggles at the plate. Through three games against Boston, Kansas City only managed to tally four runs.

However, there's no reason to sound the panic alarm, quite yet. Quatraro and his team are still on a hot stretch. The team has won 15 out of its last 19 games and sits in the Top-10 for win total through the first 40 or so games of the year.

Up next - the Royals will hit the road to face the Houston Astros on Monday, May 12. First pitch is slated for 7:10 p.m.