KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Rafael Devers’ 440-foot homer snapped a 1-1 tie and Lucas Giolito pitched into the seventh inning for his first win since 2023 as the Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 3-1 on Sunday.
Giolito (1-1) allowed two singles and one unearned run in 6 2/3 innings to get his first win for Boston. He missed last season with a partially torn elbow ligament, and his last victory was for Cleveland on Sept. 15, 2023.
Devers — again starting at designated hitter two days after Red Sox homer John Henry flew to Kansas City to meet with the disgruntled slugger over his refusal to play first base — followed up his 4-for-4 performance on Saturday with a monster homer. With one out and a runner on first in the sixth, Devers blasted Seth Lugo's first pitch to dead center, his seventh longball of the year.
In the third inning, Giolito threw wildly past third on Kyle Isbel’s bunt, allowing Drew Waters to score. He faced the minimum after that.
Wilyer Abreu tied it in the fourth with his 10th homer, a 430-foot shot to right. Abreu had three hits, snapping an 0-for-13 slide.
Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless ninth for his sixth save.
Lugo (3-4) allowed three runs in six innings for his fifth straight quality start.
Kansas City had four hits, all singles, and lost consecutive games for the first time since a six-game skid from April 14-19.
Key moment
With two on and nobody out in the third, Giolito escaped the jam by getting two groundouts sandwiched around a strikeout of Bobby Witt Jr.
Key stat
Devers has reached safely in eight of his last nine plate appearances.
Up next
Red Sox RHP Tanner Houck (0-2, 6.10 ERA) opposes Tigers RHP Jackson Jobe (2-0, 4.88) at Detroit on Monday.
Royals RHP Michael Wacha (2-4, 2.98) faces the Astros at Houston on Tuesday.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Marc Bowman, The Associated Press
