Red Sox eager to regroup around Sonny Gray in visit to Royals

While the Boston Red Sox continue to struggle, they have played well with Sonny Gray on the mound this season.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Royals haven't enjoyed much success of late when Seth Lugo has pitched.

With those veterans squaring off, these last-place teams will open a three-game set at Kansas City on Monday night.

Sitting at the bottom of American League East, Boston is 3-6 while dropping three consecutive series. The Red Sox have just 14 runs over the last eight games and -- although they had nine hits on Sunday -- they stranded nine runners during an 8-1 loss to Atlanta.

"It's tough," Boston interim manager Chad Tracy said. "Flipside, there's no consolation prizes here. We've got to win games.

"We are actually having better at-bats, but we've got to find a way to get runs.

The Red Sox have 19 victories this season, with five coming among the seven starts made by Gray (4-1, 3.18 ERA). They've won the last three games started by the right-hander, who has yielded one run, six hits and three walks over 11 innings to win his two starts since coming off the injury list from a strained hamstring.

"You feel very confident with the guys that we have behind us. They're elite," Gray said of his teammates.

That run came via a solo homer Wednesday against Philadelphia, when Gray allowed one other hit, a walk and struck out six over six innings of Boston's 3-1 home victory.

Though Gray has not faced the Royals since 2023, he's 9-2 with a 1.76 ERA in 13 career starts against them.

Kansas City, which shares the basement in the AL Central with Detroit, snapped its six-game losing streak Sunday with a 2-0 win at St. Louis. Salvador Perez hit a solo homer and drove in both runs, while Stephen Kolek pitched 6 1/3 strong innings.

"Just try to forget how we played the last (few) days," Perez told Royals.TV. "This group, we turn the page quick."

Though Perez came up big Sunday, he's 6-for-34 all time against Gray.

Seth Lugo (1-3, 3.76 ERA), Monday's scheduled starter for Kansas City, allowed just five runs -- four earned -- and 19 hits over 31 1/3 innings of his first five starts this season. In four outings since, however, the right-hander has yielded 18 runs and a whopping 37 hits over 21 1/3 frames.

Five of those runs and eight hits were surrendered through five innings Wednesday against the Chicago White Sox, as Lugo dropped his second straight game. He did record his 1,000th career strikeout in that contest.

"(The milestone) means a lot, but that's not my goal right now," said Lugo, 36. "The goal is winning. That's where my priorities are."

A winning decision is not something Lugo has experienced against the Red Sox, going 0-3 with a 6.61 ERA in three starts -- all with Kansas City.

Boston's Jarren Duran and Willson Contreras each have three hits in the last two games. Those two, along with teammate Wilyer Abreu, who is batting .300 this season, are a combined 9-for-24 against Lugo.

--Field Level Media