Randy Dobnak Time mostly continued, and Carter Jensen hit yet another home run, but the Royals fell to the Boston Red Sox 5-1.
Randy Dobnak’s line is perhaps a bit deceiving. When he left the game, he had allowed 1 run in 5.2 innings on 4 hits, no walks, and 4 strikeouts. Unfortunately, two of those hits had come in the sixth. With two outs, Matt Quatraro went to the only left-hander available in his bullpen, Anthony Gose, to face Wilyer Abreu.
Now, this is one of those cases where it’s easy to want
to criticize Q. Anthony Gose hasn’t allowed a run of his own this year, but he also hadn’t struck out a single batter in 7.1 innings. As I’ve said many times, when you give up contact, there’s always a chance it turns into runners or runs. Tonight, the contact he gave up turned into a two-run double, and the game was pretty much decided at that point.
I don’t blame Q for that because it makes sense to go to the lefty. Since Connor Thomas hasn’t pitched in back-to-back games for KC this season, I think it’s safe to assume the Royals have some reason precluding them from using him that way. I don’t blame Dobnak because if the Royals had a better bullpen, he probably wouldn’t give up those runs. 5.2 innings and 3 runs is only a single out short of a quality start anyway, which is pretty much all you can ask from a guy like Randy.
The Royals’ lone run came in the top of the sixth when Carter Jensen hit a one-out solo shot around the Pesky Pole in right.
That home run broke and tied a bunch of records, which made for a fun little bit before the Royals gave up the lead again in the bottom of the inning.
- It set a new Royals franchise record for consecutive hits to go for extra bases.
- It set an expansion-era record for consecutive hits to go for extra bases for a catcher.
- Ditto the above for a rookie.
- He tied the Royals rookie record for home runs in a season with Bob Hamelin at 24.
- He tied Bobby Witt Jr.’s Royals rookie record for extra-base hits in a season.
He didn’t get another hit, so the streak could continue tomorrow. The only other thing of note on the offensive side is that Jac Caglianone pinch-hit for Kyle Isbel in the bottom of the eighth. He struck out. Alex Lange and Easton McGee each gave up a run in their relief appearances. Next thing you knew, the game was over.
Tomorrow afternoon’s game has been delayed by a couple of hours due to expected rain in Boston. It is now expected to start at 2:05 Kauffman time. Noah Cameron (3.93 ERA, 4.13 SIERA) will face off against Payton Tolle (3.15 ERA, 3.30 SIERA) in a battle of left-handers that should be fun to watch, assuming the game is able to be played.
