On Sunday, the Boston Red Sox welcomed the Kansas City Royals to Fenway Park for the third of three games between the two teams, and Alex Cora's squad earned the series win with a 5-4 victory in the contest.
Boston's arms were solid on Sunday. Starter Brayan Bello looked pretty good, allowing just three runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out three over 6 1/3 innings. While he still had traffic, he was able to get out of jams when needed.
Brennan Bernardino closed out the seventh inning with a scoreless 2/3 of an inning, and Kenley Jansen recorded the six-out save, giving up one run and striking out three. Ceddanne Rafaela helped Jansen out in the ninth, throwing a baserunner out at third base to secure the second out of the inning.
The bats were hot for the Red Sox, as they recorded 14 total hits and walked twice while striking out just eight times. Their runs came from a two-run home run from Rafael Devers (2-for-3 with a walk) and a two-run home run and an RBI single by Dominic Smith (2-for-3 with a walk).
Jarren Duran (4-for-5) and David Hamilton (3-for-5) also had multi-hit games.
The win improved Boston's record to 53-42 on the season and 24-25 at home. They're 11 games over .500 for the first time all year. The MLB All-Star break begins on Monday, so the Red Sox won't be back in action until July 19 for a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
