Game 123: Sox 4 Royales 3

This was an exciting game right until the end. Sox and Royals went back and forth for awhile until Pedroia gives the Sox the win. He was the star of the game with 3 hits and 3 RBI. Sox were without Ortiz (injured heel) and Youkilis (on the DL) so they took a much more aggressive approach on the base paths, stealing 4 bases. Carl Crawford had two of those and was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a fly ball. It was a close play but the ball clearly beat him at the plate.

Beckett looked pretty good but not dominating. Seven innings and three runs isn't the best Beckett we've seen this year but was still very good. He only struck out 4 which was indicative of his lack of dominance. But still, that's win 10 of the year for him. Bard got the hold in the 8th and Papelbon closed out the game for the save.

Good start of a 4 game series against the Royals. We haven't been taking care of business against teams we should be beating lately. So it'll be especially important to beat up on the Royals while we're in KC.