Witt, Melendez both homer to help Royals beat Red Sox 6-1 for 4th straight win
By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer
BOSTON - Bobby Witt Jr. and MJ Melendez each had solo home runs, Cole Ragans allowed one run over seven innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox-6-1 on Friday night for their fourth consecutive victory.
Adam Frazier, Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez all added RBIs for Kansas City, which opened the three-game series a game back of Boston for the AL's final wild-card spot.
It was the 16th homer of the season for Witt, an All-Star who will be competing in Monday's Home Run Derby.
Ragans (6-6) struck out seven and allowed four hits to earn his first victory since June 24 at Miami.
Ceddanne Rafaela had an RBI for the Red Sox.
Cooper Criswell (3-4) threw a career-high 104 pitches over six innings, yielding eight hits and five runs, but only two - including Witt's home run - were earned.
The Royals opened the game with three consecutive singles to load the bases with no outs, and then took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly by Perez. But Criswell got Michael Massey on a groundout and Hunter Renfroe on a flyout to get out of the inning.
Criswell's luck didn't last.
In the second inning Kansas City took advantage of a fielding error by first baseman Romy Gonzalez, plus a walk and hit batter by Criswell to add three unearned runs and increase the lead to 4-0.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Red Sox: Placed RHP Justin Slaten on the 15-day IL retroactive to July 9 with right elbow inflammation. The reliever is 5-2 with a 3.38 ERA in 31 games this season. LHP Cam Booser was called up from Triple-A Worcester to take the roster spot.
UP NEXT
Royals: RHP Seth Lugo (11-3, 2.21 ERA) has the lowest ERA by a Royal over his first 19 starts with the franchise. He is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in three career appearances against Boston.
Red Sox: RHP Kutter Crawford (5-7, 3.24) is making his 19th start of the season. He's lost both of his career starts against Kansas City, tallying an 8.64 ERA.
