WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019 The Boston Globe Sports C3
Monday night game
AtFenwayPark
KANSAS CITYABRHBIBBSOAvg.
Merrifield2b 402010 .300
Gordon lf 50000 2.273
Dozier rf 41201 2.280
Solerdh 31000 1.249
CuthbertO’Hearn1b3b 4130110001 2.2900.174
Starling cf 411300 .250
Viloria c4 11101 .267
Lopez ss 40100 1.223
Totals 35 58539
BOSTONABRHBIBBSOAvg.
Betts rfHolt 2b 22100002000 1.283.312
Devers3b 42210 1.322
Bogaerts ss3 11110 .307
Benintendilf-cf 402201 .286
Travis 1b-lf 411201 .250
VázquezChavis 2b-1b3dh 400201000 3.2810.263
BradleyJr.cf-rf 40100 0. 224
Leónc4 1100 1.194
Totals 33 710648
Kansas City.......................000 001 130 — 5 8 1
Boston...............................003 010 30x — 7 10 1
E—Lopez (3), León(3).LOB—KansasCity7,
Boston 6.tendi 2 (33).2B—MeHR—Crrifield (31), Dozier (20), Benin-uthbert (7), off Porcello, Star-
ling (2), off MBarnes, Viloria(1), off Eovaldi,De-
vers(23),off Montgomery,Travis(3), off Mont-
gomery.Runnersleft in scoring position—Kansas
City 3 (Dozier, SolerRISP—KansasCity 1 2), Bostonfor 8 ,Bosto2 (Vázquen 2 for8.Runnersz, León).
movedup—Merrifield, Gordon,Devers, Travis.
GIDP—Benintendi.DP—KansasCity 1 (Merrifield,
Lopez, O’Hearn).
Kansas City IP HRER BB SO NP ERA
Mntgmery L 0-3 57421 7906.61
McCarthy 1100009 4.67
Hill‚ 12210 18 4.41
BarlowStaumont1„1 0011101 1195.730113.38
Boston IP HRER BB SO NP ERA
PorcelloW 10-86 41125 99 5.54
Eovaldi 11111 0156.75
Barnes 12320 2274.67
Workman S 61 10002 17 1.99
Inherited runners-scored—Barlow 2-2.WP—
Barlow.Catchersinterference—León.Umpires—
Home,RyanBlakneyTrippGibson; Third, Mark; First,BrianCarlson.Gorman; SeconT—2:56.d,
A—33,636(37,755).HOWTHERUNSSCORED
THIRD INNING
RED SOX — Bettswalked on four pitches. De-
vers singledto center, Betts to third. Bogaerts
safe at firston fielder’s choiceplusfieldingerror
by shortstopLopez, Betts scored,Devers to sec-
ond. BenintendiondbasemanMerrgroundeifieldd into a doubleto shortstop Lopezplay, sec-to
firstbaseman O’Hearn, Deversto third, Bogaerts
out. Travishomeredto center on a 2-1 count, De-
vers scored. Vázquez struck out.
FIFTHINNING
RED SOX — Betts grounded out, second base-
man Merrifield to first baseman O’Hearn. Devers
homeredto left on a 1-0 count. Bogaertsground-
ed out, shortstopLopez to first baseman
O’Hearn.Benintendistruck out.
SIXTHINNING
ROYALS — Dozierstruck out. Soler struckout.
Cuthbert homered to left on a 1-2 count. O’Hearn
poppedout to firstbaseman Travis.
SEVENTH INNING
ROYALS — Eovaldi pitching.Starling flied out to
centerfielder BradleyJr. Viloriahomeredto left
on a 0-2 count.Lopezfliedout to left fielderBen-
intendi.Merrifield walked. Gordonflied out to
centerfielder BradleyJr.
REDSOX— Hill pitching. Leónsingledto left.
Bettswalkedon a full count, León to second. De-
vers lined out to right fielder Dozier, León to
third.Barlowpitching.On Barlow’swildpitch,
on fourLeónscored,pitches.BettsBenintendito secondoubld. Bogaertsed to right,walkedBet-
ts scored, Bogaertsscored. Travis groundedout,
firstbasemanO’Hearnunassisted, Benintendito
third. Vázquezstruckout.
EIGHTHINNING
ROYALS — Holt in as second baseman. Benin-
tendi in as center fielder.Travis in as left fielder.
Chavisin as first baseman.BradleyJr. in as right
fielSolerder.reachedBarnes pitchion interferencng.Doziere on catcher León,singled tocenter.
Dozier to second.Cuthbertstruckout.O’Hearn
fliedout to center fielderBenintendi.Starling
homeredto left on a 1-0 count,Dozierscored,
Soler scored. Viloria struckout.Red Sox 7, Royals 5Celticsrookiesare a hitin visitto Fenway ParkByNicole Yang
BOSTON.COM STAFF
Celtics rookie Grant Wil-
liams had quite the stage for his
first-ever attempt at pitching a
baseball.
“I’m actuallyvery nervous
for it,” Williamssaid shortly be-
fore the moment Tuesday night.
“Walking up to the mound, I’m
going to be nervous. My hands
are going to start sweating.”
Prior to Red Sox starter And-
rew Cashner’s 93.7-mile-per-
hour fastball to open the first
inningagainst the KansasCity
Royals, Williams and teammate
CarsenEdwardstookthe
mound at Fenway Park to deliv-
er the ceremonial first pitches.
The two, donning custom-
ized Sox jerseys with their last
namesprinted across the top,
were greeted with hearty cheers
and applausefromfans — sev-
eral of whomhad requested
photosand autographs earlier
in the day.
Neither one hit the strike
zone,with Williamssinkinghis
low nearthe dirt and Edwards
sailing his high and away. Wil-
liamsequated his throw to an
“eephuspitch,” an old term
usedto describe a low-speed
circus pitch.
“Mine stoppeda little bit
short,” he said, with a smile.
The evening’s festivities
started wellbeforegame’s
scheduledstart timeof 7:10
p.m., as the two spent a couple
of hours visiting iconic spots in
the ballpark.Edwardswas
joinedby his brotherand girl-
friend, while Williamswas
joined by his father, uncle, and
agent.
Up first was a trip to the
Samuel Adams Deck for a meet
and greet with fans and the Lar-
ry O’Brientrophy. The session
was followed by batting prac-
tice, whereWilliamsrattled off
a few facts about Fenway and
surmised he could definitely hit
a home run due to the park’s di-
mensions.
As the Royals wentthrough
theirusualroutines,Williamsalso took a few minutes to Face-
Timeteammate Tacko Fall, who
is in his homecountry of Sene-
gal. OnceFall was on the line,
he held his phone up to a group
of fans who immediately began
chanting, “Tac-ko! Tac-ko!”
frombehind the netting.
Williams and Edwards also
briefly chatted withRed Sox
right fielderMookie Betts, who
has been spotted watching Celt-
ics gamesat TD Garden on mul-
tiple occasions.
Later, the pair madetheir
way over to the Green Monster,
wherethey wentinsideto sign
their names on the walland
posed for photographs in front
of the scoreboard. Edwards jok-
inglymotioned as if he had just
made a catch on the warning
track, and Williams played
catch with his uncle.
ThetriptoFenwayPark
marked Williams’s second since
getting drafted by the Celtics in
June. Earlier this summer, he
sat on the GreenMonster to
watch Liverpool take on Sevilla
in a soccer friendly.
The 20-year-old said he has
beenenjoying his timeexplor-
ing the city and hopes to do so
even more now that he has offi-
cially movedin.
“Now it’s moreso about
understandingwherethings
are in the city, howto get
around,” Williams said.“I’ve
made a lot of U-Turns and a lot
of rightsthat I shouldhave
madelefts.”
With four Celtics — Jaylen
Brown,Marcus Smart, Jayson
Tatum,and KembaWalker —
participating in Team USA
trainingcamp in Las Vegas this
week, Williams and Edwards
are helping hold downthe local
contingent at the Auerbach
Center.
“We’re goofy,” Williamssaid.
“Me and Semitoday were just
goofing around. Carsen’s proba-
bly the biggest goofer of them
all. It’s going to be a great year
chemistry-wise and great on
the court because we have a lot
of talented players.”Cora updates status of pitchers
ByMatt Porter
GLOBE STAFF
Two Red Sox relievers are
on the shelf with arm trouble,
and the trade deadline inaction
surrounding
the bullpen
continues to
seemregretta-
ble in retrospect.
Heath Hembreewas to re-
ceivea platelet-richplasmain-
jection in his pitchingelbow
Tuesday, managerAlex Cora
announcedat the end of his
pregamechat with reporters.
Additionally, knuckleballer
StevenWrightwas on his way
to Floridato see Dr.JamesAn-
drews, signalingthat he may
not be back any time soon.
Hembree,who was placed
on the injured list Friday with
lateral inflammation in his
rightelbow, Cora said, is ex-
pectedtoreturnthisseason.
His issueseemsto be on the
outsideof the elbow. “It’s not
his ligament,” said Cora, who
needednot remind anyonehe
is not a medicaldoctor. “It’s
not the reddest of the red
flags.”
Hembreespent three weeks
on the IL, beginningJune 14,
with a rightelbow extensor
strain. He pitched12 timesbe-
fore returningto the IL.
In the first 2½ monthsof
the season,Hembreewas one
of the Red Sox’ most effective
relievers,posting a 2.51 ERA
with 35 strikeoutsin 28„in-
nings.He held batters to a .189
average with a .645 OPS.
Between his recentstints on
the IL, Hembree allowed 10
runs (nineearned), six walks,
and threehomersin nine in-
nings.Opponentswerebatting
.350 with a 1.208OPS.
Wright, hamperedby left
kneetroublethe last two years,
has felt good in that area of
late, Cora said. Becauseof his
arm,however, his status for the
rest of the year is unclear.
“He played catch the other
day and didn’t feel too comfort-
able with it,” Cora said.“We’ll
see what they say aboutSteven
tomorrow.”
Wright, limitedto 53„in-
ningslast seasonbecause of a
left knee injury, had surgery in
Novemberand was suspended
the first 80 gamesof 2019 for
testing positivefor perfor-
mance-enhancingdrugs.He
madesix appearancesbefore
he was struck in the toe by a
line driveon July 13, sending
him to the IL.
The 34-year-old had an 8.53
ERA in 6‚ this year.Bogaerts gets rest
XanderBogaertsplayed
111 of the Red Sox’ first 116
games.Even a spry 26-year-old
All-Star, ostensiblyat the peak
of his powers,needsa rest.
Bogaerts was given a day off
on Tuesday.
“He needsone of those.He’s
beenplaying a lot,” Cora said
before the game,noting that
after the seventhinningof
Monday’s 7-5 win over the Roy-
als Bogaerts was “dragging.”
After Bogaerts scoredfrom
first onAndrewBenintendi’s
two-run double to right, he
usedall of his exit ramp to slow
down,pressingagainst the
short fence behindhomeplate
to stop his momentum.He
looked a bit weary-legged.
After Monday’s day off to
rest a tight back,J.D. Martinez
was backin his DH spot Tues-
day, thoughCora said Martinez
was readyto play the outfield if
needed.His backwas feeling
that good.
MookieBetts, his left shin
bruised when hit by a foul ball
on Monday, batted leadoff
Tuesday and played rightfield.
Last year, the Red Sox’ suc-
cess in the standings let Cora
sprinklein rest days for his
stars and others.Their current
position— 5½ gamesbehind
the Rays for the secondwild
card as of Tuesday morning—
doesn’t allowhim similarflexi-
bility.
The club has had one day
off sincereturningfromthe
All-Starbreakon July 12. The
Sox are in a stretch of playing16 days in a row, and 33 of 34.
Their next day off is Aug. 15.
“It’s not easy,” Cora said.
“You’ve got to create a balance.
Withinjuries and moves, it’s
hardto give guys a rest. You’ve
got to be realistic, too. They
need[rest] for us to pull it off.
We needthemto be fresh.”
A brief respiteis on the ho-
rizon.After Wednesday’s series
finale against the Royals,the
Red Sox will play four against
the Angels and threein Cleve-
land before a day off Aug. 15.
They will be off the final three
Thursdays of August, and the
final two Mondays of the
month. They also will be off the
first Monday of September.
“We’re very conscious of it,”
Cora said of his star players’
energy levels. “We thinkthe
scheduleis going to help us
out.”Runof success
The Red Sox’ recent skid put
themin rare company. Before
losingeightin a row, ending
with Monday’s win, the Sox
had not lost five or morein a
row sincelosing eight straight
in July 2015.That was the
fifth-longest stretch without a
losingstreak of five-plusgames
in baseballhistory, according
to the EliasSports Bureau. The
1930-38Yankees hold the lon-
gest streakwithouta five-game
skid (1,233games),followed
by the 1946-52 Yankees (878),
2001-06Braves (712),1882-88
St. Louis Browns(666),and
2015-19Red Sox (662).. .Ra-
fael Devers, who hit his 23rd
homerun of the seasonMon-
day, became the first Sox player
younger than 23 to reachthat
total in a season sinceTo ny
Conigliaro(28 homers)and
GeorgeScott(27) did so in
1966... WithRickPorcello
pitchingsix innings on Mon-
day, the Red Sox improvedto
17-5 in theirlast 22 games (be-
ginningJune 12) when their
starter goes at least six.FollowMatt Porteron Twitter
at @mattyportsRED SOX
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