The Red Sox broke a 3 game losing streak by beating the Royals 7-1 behind Roger Clemens tonight. Clemens allowed 1 run over 8 innings and struck out 6 to run his record to 12-1 on the season. He did not allow a hit until the 5th inning. Boston pounded out 15 hits against a trio of Royals' pitchers led by starter Bret Saberhagen. Carlos Quintana went 3-for-5 with his 5th home run of the season, and Jody Reed broke out of his recent slump with 3 hits of his own.
Rookie Tim Burcham pitched extremely well for the Royals tonight, leading them to an 8-3 win over the Red Sox. Burcham struck out 9 in 6.2 innings to earn the win. After having cut Kansas City's lead to 4-2, Tim Naehring was thrown out at home plate by CF Willie Wilson to end the 7th inning. The Royals then put the game out of reach with 4 runs in the bottom of the inning against reliever Rob Murphy. The big blow against Murphy in the 7th was a 3 run home run by catcher David Rolls. Dana Kiecker got the start for the Red Sox and was uneven in 6 innings of work. He took the loss, allowing 4 earned runs on 7 hits and 4 walks.
The Red Sox took the third and final game of the series in Kansas City by a score of 8-5. Starter Tom Bolton was outstanding for his 7 innings. In what was easily his best start of the season, Bolton allowed 1 run on just 4 hits and earned the win to improve to 3-11. An odd 8th inning for Royals reliever Luis Aquino broke the game open. Aquino hit 3 batters, walked 1 and threw a wild pitch all in the 8th inning. Carlos Quintana and Mike Greenwell each homered for the Red Sox in support of Bolton.