Red Sox reactions: Sonny Gray hit hard, bats go quiet as Boston loses third straight

BOSTON — Instant reactions to the Red Sox (80-68) falling behind early to the last-place Royals and taking their third straight loss, this time by a 3-2 score:

1) Sonny Gray put together a very unlikely quality start that started with rocket after rocket off the bats of Royals hitters and ended with a very respectable line. Gray was tagged for three runs and five hits in his first three innings, then allowed just three baserunners (and one hit) the rest of the way to keep the Sox in the game.

Still, it was too little too late after Gray was hit exceedingly — and concerningly — hard early as a bad Royals team hit eight balls with an exit velocity of 102.4 mph or harder and jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

Carter Jensen led off the game with a 110 mph double to center, then scored with two outs when Salvador Perez roped a single (103.9 mph) down the third base line. In the third, Isaac Collins led off with a ground-rule double (103.2 mph) before Jensen went high off the Green Monster with another two-bagger (102.6 mph) to make it 2-0. Vinnie Pasquantino 's RBI single (102.4 mph) made it 3-0.

In total, Gray struck out five and walked two.

2) Quietly, the Red Sox are not playing very well at home again. They've lost five of their last seven at Fenway Park — against three teams well under .500. On the whole, they are back to below .500 at home (36-37) this season. A defeat either Saturday or Sunday will mark the Sox' third straight series loss at Fenway.

3) To get the Sox on the board in the fifth, Mickey Gasper broke an 0-for-14 slump in a fitting way. He took Seth Lugo deep into the home bullpen for his ninth homer in 21 games since August 17. Somehow, some way... Gasper is now sixth on the team in home runs this season.

After failing to get much going against Lugo early, Boston's hitters saw him much better in a two-run fifth. Adley Rutschman walked, then scored on a Wilyer Abreu double that hit high up on the Green Monster and made it a one-run game.

4) In a one-run game, the Sox did little against a cast of unknown characters in Kansas City 's bullpen. Nolan Hoffman (ninth MLB game) and lefty Connor Thomas (14th MLB game) needed just 24 total pitches for back-to-back perfect innings in the sixth and seventh. Righty Nate Pearson then dispatched the middle of the order in an eighth inning that didn't come without drama.

Trevor Story smoked a 105 mph one-out double off the Green Monster and took second on a close play, avoiding a tag attempt with a nifty slide. The Sox couldn't do anything with that chance, though, as Nick Sogard lifted a fly ball to deep right field (that would have been a homer in half of baseball's parks) and Caleb Durbin struck out chasing a pitch in the dirt.

In the ninth, hard-throwing righty Steven Cruz got three quick outs on a total of 10 pitches. He struck out Roman Anthony to end it.

5) Overall, it was a poor offensive night for the Sox. The lineup combined to go 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base. Boston had eight hits but just three extra-base hits (the Gasper homer and the doubles by Abreu and Story). Boston's batters struck out 10 times and walked just twice.

6) Jarren Duran is within one steal of the second 20-20 season of his career. He stole second base in the fourth inning for his 19th robbery of the season and already has 20 homers. Considering Duran hasn't felt like himself at the plate all season, it's a notable accomplishment that he has still been able to consistently tap into both power and speed all season.

7) Gray's chances of a first-career 20-win season dwindled significantly as he fell to 17-5 with the loss . With 14 regular season games to go and the Red Sox still overwhelmingly likely to make the postseason, he'll likely only start twice more as Boston tries to line up its rotation for the wild card round. Gray will likely make his next start in Tampa Bay next week and pitch once on the final homestand of the year. He remains the favorite to pitch Game 1 of the postseason.

Gray is tied for the MLB-lead in wins with Philadelphia lefty Cristopher Sánchez and leads the American League on his own. Next up in the AL is Tampa Bay's Nick Martinez (14).

8) The Sox and Royals will play again Saturday in the middle game of a three-game set between the clubs. First pitch is at 4:10 p.m. ET with lefty Ranger Suarez (6-4, 3.44 ERA) starting opposite Kansas City right-handers Randy Dobnak (3-3, 2.54 ERA).

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