G70: Royals 4, Red Sox 2

Red Sox - 000 200 000 - 2 10  0
Royals  - 002 000 20x - 4 10  0

After the Royals scored two runs off Blaine Boyer in the seventh, the Red Sox tried to come back, but left the bases loaded in the top of the eighth. Andrew Benintendi tripled with one out in the ninth, but nothing came of it.

Hector Velazquez (5.1-5-2-0-3, 77) did his job, but the bullpen failed. With one out in the seventh, Drew Butera lined the ball to center. Jackie Bradley dove to his right, but the ball skipped past him and rolled to the wall for a triple. Whit Merrifield fell behind in the count, but chopped a single into left, snapping a 1-1 tie. After a groundout moved Merrifield to second, Lorenzo Cain sliced a single to right to make it 4-2.

Mike Minor relieved Jason Hammel (7-7-2-0-4, 91) in the top of the eighth. Hanley Ramirez and Bradley both singled with one out. Josh Rutledge struck out, but Chris Young, pinch-hitting for Pablo Sandoval, walked on four inside pitches. Christian Vazquez grounded slowly to third, but Cheslor Cuthbert's throw just nipped the runner, and the Red Sox declined to challenge the call.

Eric Hosmer hit a long two-run home run to deep left-center in the third. The Red Sox answered that in the fourth when Ramirez singled and Bradley homered to right.

Bradley had his first three-hit game of the season. ... After Young batted for Sandoval, Vazquez moved to third for the eighth inning, with Sandy Leon going behind the plate. (Vazquez played nine games at third back in 2009, when he was 18 years old and in the Gulf Coast League and at Lowell (A).)

Hector Velazquez / Jason Hammel

Betts, RF
Benintendi, LF
Bogaerts, SS
Moreland, 1B
Ramirez, DH
Bradley, CF
Rutledge, 2B
Sandoval, 3B
Vazquez, C

In his first ten starts this season, Jason Hammel had a 6.18 ERA and an opponents batting average of .306. He changed his motion a bit - squaring his shoulders to the plate from the stretch - and has had a 2.21 ERA in his last three starts.

Hector Velazquez threw 3.1 shutout innings against the Phillies on June 14. Let's see more of that guy.

MFY News: The Yankees are off tonight, but begin a series at home against the Angels tomorrow. Infielder Gleyber Torres (the #2 prospect in all of baseball according to MLB Pipeline) will have season-ending Tommy John surgery.