Red Sox Notes: Lineup Executed Game Plan Against Elite Royals Pitcher

The Boston Red Sox didn’t have to worry about their ongoing struggles against left-handed pitching once Seth Lugo and the Kansas City Royals took the field Saturday afternoon.

Lugo, who took the mound with an MLB-best 2.21 ERA, logged an uncharacteristic outing, which resulted from Boston’s scheme to recover from its 6-1 loss Friday night to begin the three-game home series.

Boston knocked Lugo off the mound after five innings, charging the right-hander for a season-high 10 hits and five runs before Kansas City turned to its bullpen.

“He’s got a handful of mix — four or fix, six different pitches. You just gotta pick one or two that you like to try to be aggressive on and be short because he can strike both sides out and he can get to two strikes quickly as he likes to attack the zone,” Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire explained after Boston’s 5-0 win, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “For us, it was just try to get singles, not trying to be too big and then the big hits do come.”

The Red Sox totaled four extra-base hits off Lugo, providing Kutter Crawford with plenty of run support to keep the Royals at bay throughout his seven-plus scoreless innings thrown.

“We put some good at-bats against him,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Very similar to (Aaron) Nola — the breaking ball and the changeup and leaving down in the zone. The lefties did an amazing job. (Rob Refsnyder) in the first inning hit the ball hard to the triangle, they made a nice play. But we were relentless today. Not swinging and missing. Putting the ball in play.”

All of Boston’s left-handed hitters — Jarren Duran, David Hamilton, Masastaka Yoshida, Rafael Devers, Wilyer Abreu, Dominic Smith and McGuire — recorded at least one base hit, marking the second occasion this season.

The victory did right by the Red Sox and their postseason hopes. Boston gained a one-game cushion over Kansas City for the final wild-card spot in the American League, also guaranteeing that regardless of Sunday’s outcome, the Red Sox will be in a playoff position heading into the MLB All-Star break.

Here are more notes from Saturday evening’s Red Sox-Royals game:

— Boston recorded its 11th shutout win of the season, tied with the Atlanta Braves for the most in MLB this season.

— Crawford notched his eighth consecutive start of at least six innings, improving to 6-7 with a 3.04 ERA after dominating the Royals. The 28-year-old isn’t worried about the All-Star break interfering with his resurgence on the mound this season.

“It’s not like I’m not gonna pick up a baseball for the next four or five days,” Crawford said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “It’s gonna be good for the body and I don’t think it’s gonna be too tough.”

— Devers went 2-for-4 at the plate, crushing a solo home run which put the 27-year-old ahead of Red Sox legend Jason Varitek for the 11th most homers hit (194) in Boston.

— Boston improved to an MLB-best 41-4 when scoring five-plus runs this season.

— The Red Sox and Royals will finish off the series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch from Fenway Park is set for 1:35 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, along with an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.