Aug 21, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Johnny Cueto (47) reacts after the fifth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
Game Notes:
- Cueto entered the game owning a 1.80 ERA in his first 4 starts since being acquired by the Royals from Cincinnati. Counting his time with the Reds, his 2.46 ERA was good for 9th best in the majors. Once the Red Sox got done with him, that ERA inflated to 2.70, dropping him to 12th in the league.
- Josh Rutledge singled in his first plate appearance, after entering the game 3-for-3 in his career against Cueto. With a pair of hits against the Royals ace tonight, Rutledge is now 5-for-6 against Cueto in his career.
- Ramirez is now 18-for-94 (.121) at the plate since the break. His last home run was on July 11. His last dozen at-bats have ended with 9 ground outs, 2 strikeouts and a popup. Most of the players on this Red Sox roster have stepped it up lately to impress new President of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski. Ramirez is not one of them, as he’s done little to convince the new boss that he should keep him around beyond this season.
- Ramirez and David Ortiz were the only Red Sox hitters that were held without a hit tonight. Boston had four players in their lineup with multi-hit games: Betts, Castillo, Swihart, and Rutledge. Those four were a combined 11-for-17 tonight.
- The Red Sox piled up 14 hits, but failed to draw a walk. They had at least one walk in every game on this homestand entering tonight.
- Boston has now won 4 straight and can pull to within 7 games of the second Wild Card spot, pending the result of the Angels game later tonight. Sure, it’s a long shot, but with 40 games left there’s still time to make a run and at least make things interesting down the stretch.
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