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Royals-Red Sox Preview

Jul 9, 2009 - 4:31 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Kansas City (36-47) at Boston (50-33), 7:10 p.m. EDT

After a slow start to their 10-game homestand, the Boston Red Sox seem to be gaining some momentum going into the All-Star break.

A lengthy visit from the Kansas City Royals could certainly help.

The Red Sox will host the reeling Royals for four games going into next week's break, and they'll be looking for a third straight victory overall when they open the season series on Thursday night.

Boston (51-33) had the best home record in the majors entering its weekend series against Seattle, but it dropped two of three to the Mariners and managed two hits while losing 6-0 in Monday's series opener against Oakland.

Two straight wins to close their set with the Athletics, however, helped the Red Sox maintain a one-game lead on the New York Yankees in the AL East. David Ortiz homered and drove in four runs in Wednesday's 5-4 victory, giving him nine home runs and 21 RBIs in his last 28 games.

Dustin Pedroia went 3 for 4 with two doubles in the game as he continues to heat up. The reigning AL MVP is batting .339 (21 for 62) with nine RBIs in his last 14 games, raising his average to .296.

Boston's offense will try to offer better support to Brad Penny (6-3, 4.67 ERA) than it has lately. The right-hander has just one win in his last five starts despite a 2.20 ERA over that span. He has allowed two runs and six hits in six innings in each of his last two outings, but is 0-1 in those games.

"That's baseball," Penny told his team's official Web site after Boston's 3-2 loss to Seattle on Saturday. "You look at the last two games and the two guys pitched pretty well against me. Sometimes you lose. It happens."

It was a similar story the only time Penny faced the Royals. He allowed three runs in seven innings of the Dodgers' 3-1 loss on June 15, 2005.

This time, Kansas City will counter with Luke Hochevar. The former No. 1 overall draft pick has been showing signs of progress lately, going 4-1 with a 3.40 ERA in his last six starts.

Hochevar (4-3, 5.08) battled to a victory Saturday against the Chicago White Sox, allowing four runs in six innings of a 6-4 win.

The right-hander faced Boston twice last year, going 0-2 with a 6.94 ERA and nine walks in 11 2-3 innings. His only appearance at Fenway Park came in a 7-0 loss opposite Jon Lester's no-hitter on May 19, 2008.

That started a four-game sweep for the Red Sox, who outscored Kansas City 45-20 while going 6-1 in last season's series.

The Royals (36-48) haven't been any better this year, especially lately. They will be trying to avoid another three-game losing streak, and they're 7-14 since June 17.

Their meek offense has averaged 3.2 runs over that span, managing six hits in Wednesday's 3-1 loss to Detroit - their sixth loss in ace Zack Greinke's last eight starts.

"We just didn't do anything offensively to get Zack back in the game," Royals manager Trey Hillman said.

For the season, Kansas City ranks last in the AL with a .311 on-base percentage.

This will be the first game between the clubs since Boston traded outfielder Coco Crisp to the Royals in exchange for reliever Ramon Ramirez in November. Crisp is out for the season following shoulder surgery, while Ramirez has a 2.19 ERA in 37 appearances for the Red Sox.