Gavin Floyd was dealing to start this game. He was ahead of every hitter through four innings and had 5 strikeouts. A few bumps in the road in the fifth were enough to take the game for Kansas City.
Gavin started the inning with a groundout, but then he walked Eric Hosmer for his first walk of the game. Jeff Francoeur was up next and the first Royal hitter to see ball one before a strike. I think. I was only mostly paying attention, and anyway, we have discussed here before, you don't necessarily have to throw strikes to Frenchy. Anyway, he singles putting runners on the corners. Jarrod Dyson hit a groundout, but was too fast to double up scoring Hosmer. Chris Getz followed with a base hit that scored Francoeur easily when Alejandro De Aza muffed it in center and gave Getz second. Mr. Doubles, Alex Gordon, hit one to right and the Royals went up 3-0. That would be all they would need.
The Sox got one back in the bottom of the frame after Tyler Flowers was hit by a pitch. Gordon Beckham put men on the corners and De Aza singled weakly to drive him home.
Despite that, De Aza looked mostly terrible, going 1-for-5 and grounding out weakly to end the game. He is 1-for-the season with no walks, hitting .083 with the OBP to match.
On the other side of the coin, Gordon Beckham went 4-for-4 and looks like he is seeing the ball really well. Ventura called on him by sending Flowers for a hit-and-run and he came though, setting up that lone run of the afternoon.
The Sox threatened again in the seventh, and had at least a hit in three of the four innings after they fell behind. But they just couldn't scratch across any more runs.
Record: 2-1 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights