Royals fall out of first with 4-2 loss to Red Sox

For the first time in more than a month, they’re the second-place Royals.

The Royals’ 4-2 loss to the Red Sox on Friday coupled with the Tigers’ victory over the Indians marked the first change atop of the American League Central Division standings since the Royals took over first on Aug. 11. The Royals trail by one-half game.

The Royals were a sizzling team then, having won their eighth straight that day. Even when the Royals dipped a bit afterwards they managed to remain ahead of the three-time defending division champion Tigers.

Now, after a second straight loss to a team that arrived in Kansas City 20 games under .500, the Royals, 80-66, gaze up in the standings, and Friday’s script was hauntingly familiar.

Not enough hitting, shoddy defense and pitching from starter Yordano Ventura that would suffice on many nights if the bats and gloves were doing their thing. But only scoreless starts have put the Royals in the victory column recently.

Fifteen games plus the conclusion of the unfinished contest with the Indians remain in the Royals’ push for a first playoff spot in nearly three decades. They can’t have many more that look like Friday’s. Or Thursday’s.

One bad inning shouldn’t do in a playoff-driven team, but the third is when things unraveled.

Jemile Weeks grounded a double past first baseman Eric Hosmer, and Mookie Betts followed with a run-scoring single. In between this sequence was a pair of Ventura strikeouts, so the damage was limited.

But things then turned ugly.

Ventura plunked Daniel Nava, and Yoenis Cespedes, who is usually dangerous with the long ball, chopped a grounder to Mike Moustakas. Moustakas made a nice short-hop pick, and it appeared he could have gotten Cespedes with a good throw.

But the ball went wide of Hosmer at first and Betts scored.

The Red Sox made it 3-0 when Nava scored on Ventura’s wild pitch. On the play, Cespedes had taken off for second and was credited with a stolen base. The moment carried a historical significance.

It marked the first time this season a player had attempted a stolen base against Ventura. It happened in the 177th inning of his career, and it was baseball’s longest such streak at the beginning of a career since World War II, and fifth longest of all time.

But the inning was all too mindful of Thursday’s shenanigans, when the Royals committed three errors and walked five in a 6-3 loss.

Something that was different for the Royals on Friday was a ball hit out of the park. Hosmer got around on an Allen Webster offering and dropped it into the seats that curl around the right-field foul pole. Alex Gordon had walked ahead of Hosmer, making the blast worth two and cutting the Red Sox lead to one.

But the Sox answered immediately with Nava’s RBI single.

Ventura went seven innings, struck out six but three other hits besides the Hosmer homer was all support the Royals could provide.

Billy Butler returned to the lineup for the first time in four days, getting the start at designated hitter after Josh Willingham suffered a strained groin on Thursday. But Butler’s slump continued in a zero-for-four night, making him two for his last 29.

Two other big bats have gone just as silent. Salvador Perez is three of his last 29, and Gordon has now gone six games and 19 at-bats without a hit.

Closer Greg Holland pitched a scoreless ninth in his first appearance since suffering tight triceps in the final game of the previous homestand. He recorded three strikeouts around a walk.

This story was originally published September 12, 2014 at 10:28 PM with the headline "Royals fall out of first with 4-2 loss to Red Sox."