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Major League Baseball
Kansas City 13, Boston 2
When: 8:10 PM ET, Friday, September 1, 2023
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Temperature: 87°
Umpires: Home - Sean Barber, 1B - Alan Porter, 2B - Jim Wolf, 3B - Nate Tomlinson
Attendance: 15470

Salvador Perez hit two home runs as the Kansas City Royals emphatically curbed a six-game skid, defeating the visiting Boston Red Sox 13-2 on Friday night.

Perez's 3-for-5, four-RBI night led a Royals offense that totaled four homers and 17 hits. Bobby Witt Jr. (3-for-5) and Nelson Velazquez also left the yard as part of multi-hit efforts for Kansas City (42-94).

Nick Loftin went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and a run in his major league debut. Maikel Garcia (2-for-4, two RBIs) and Freddy Fermin (2-for-4, run) also were key contributors for the Royals.

Jordan Lyles (4-15) pitched eight innings for the third time in five starts, striking out seven while allowing four hits and a two-out, two-run home run by Alex Verdugo in the eighth.

The Red Sox (69-66) dropped their fifth straight.

Boston starter James Paxton (7-5) struggled from nearly the jump as Witt ripped a solo homer down the left field line with one out in the first. Perez made it back-to-back when he struck his 20th of the season out to left-center.

After Lyles' second straight 1-2-3 inning, Kansas City immediately loaded the bases on a Velazquez leadoff double and two walks. Kyle Isbel's fielder's choice extended the lead to 3-0. A wild pitch moved Isbel to second and set up Garcia for a run-scoring single to left, ending Paxton's night.

With Mauricio Llovera in from Boston's bullpen, a Witt RBI grounder and a Perez RBI single to center followed.

Paxton was charged with six runs on five hits in 1 1/3 innings. He walked two without recording a strikeout.

Connor Wong's two-out single in the third was the first Boston hit.

In the bottom of the third, Loftin's first major league hit was a wall-ball double that scored Drew Waters, who had hit a two-out single.

The newcomer got Kansas City's six-run sixth inning started with a leadoff single to right, and he scored on Isbel's double into the left field corner. Garcia followed with another RBI knock before Perez launched a two-run homer to center two batters later.

After Fermin hit a two-out single, Velazquez brought him home on a two-run homer to left-center to increase the rout to 13-0.

In the eighth, Luis Urias was hit by a pitch two batters before Boston got on the board on Verdugo's homer to right.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Boston   Kansas City
James Paxton Player Jordan Lyles
Loss W/L Win
1.1 IP 8.0
0 Strikeouts 7
5 Hits 4
40.50 ERA 2.25
Hitting
Boston   Kansas City
Ceddanne Rafaela Player Salvador Perez
1 Hits 3
0 RBI 4
0 HR 2
1 TB 9
.500 Avg .600
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Boston 5 1 8 .156 6 9 2 1 0 0
Kansas City 17 4 32 .436 13 7 13 3 0 0