Red Sox Recap: Henry Owens out-duels Johnny Cueto for his first Fenway win

Aug 16, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Henry Owens (60) delivers against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Red Sox may not have an ace on their staff, but their offense has been up to the challenge of facing opposing team’s top starters on this homestand.  Over the past week the red hot Red Sox have roughed up Felix Hernandez and Corey Kluber. Now they can add Johnny Cueto to that list.

The Red Sox struck first with a line drive off the left field wall by Blake Swihart to drive in the first run of the game. The relay throw was off the mark and Rusney Castillo was able to take advantage of the miscue to add an extra run, as Swihart cruised into second. The Royals are typically known for  being a strong defensive team, but they looked sloppy in allowing the Red Sox to get off to an early lead. Boston would score their third run of the inning when Mookie Betts hit a sinking liner to left that clanked off the glove of Paulo Orlando.

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Henry Owens had held the Royals hitless until Ben Zobrist‘s double to lead off the 4th inning. If anyone was going to return the favor for the poor defense that led to the Red Sox earlier runs, of course it would be Hanley Ramirez. It appeared as if Zobrist was going to hold up at third base on a base hit by Eric Hosmer, but his third base coach waved him home once he saw Ramirez bobble the ball in left.

The bottom of the inning was Lorenzo Cain‘s turn to have a rough time defensively. First he allowed a fly ball from Castillo to get over his head and bounce into the center field triangle for a triple. That was followed by a base hit by Swihart to drive in Castillo, then two batters later came a bloop base hit from Betts. Cain covered a lot of distance trying to make a play, only to come up short and inadvertently knock the ball further away from him as he swiped at it with his glove, allowing Swihart to score all the way from first base.

Next: Summary Continued