Red Sox Beat Royals 7-1 Move Back Into 1st Place [VIDEO]

The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 7-1 on Saturday to move back into 1st place by a half game with Tampa Bay's 6-5 loss to the Seattle Mariners in 10 innings.

The Red Sox scored 4 runs in the top of the 5th inning, to take a 5-1 lead, thanks in part to JD Martinez's 14th home run of the year. It was a 2-run homer and was JD's 100th career home run as a Red Sox player. The hit also extended his hitting streak to 9 games.

Martin Perez who was dreadful in his previous 2 starts allowing 11 earned runs over 3 1/3 innings  (29.70 ERA), pitched well on Saturday. He went 5.0 innings allowing just 1 run on 3 hits. He struck out 3 and walked 2. He picked up the win, and is now 5-4 on the season.

The 3 relief pitchers were excellent, combining for 4 scoreless innings and allowing just 4 hits. Garrett Whitlock pitched the 6th and 7th innings striking out 2. Hirakazu Sawamura pitched the 8th striking out 1 and Brandon Workman worked the 9th inning striking out 1.

Bobby Dalbec had a day. He was 3-3 with a home run, a 2-run homer, his 9th of the season in the 9th inning. He also had a triple, his 3rd of the season to lead the club, and singled.

Alex Verdugo had a double

Manager Alex Cora on the win.

The Red Sox moved back into 1st place in the AL East with Seattle's 6-5 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night in 10 innings. Seattle and Tampa Bay play the final game of their series on Sunday

The Red Sox and Royals will play the final game of the 3 game series on Sunday afternoon. Nathan Eovaldi will head to the mound for the Red Sox. The pregame starts at 1:10 with the first pitch at 2:10 on AM 1370 WDEA.

The Red Sox and Rays are both off on Monday, and open a 3-game series at Tropicana Field in Florida on Tuesday, June 22nd.