Boston didn’t have the pitching, hitting or defense to keep up with the Royals in a 13-5 loss at Kauffman Stadium. The Red Sox, who have lost three of four in a row, will finally get a day off on Monday before getting back to work against the Braves on Tuesday night at Fenway Park. After taking two of three against the mighty Astros, the Red Sox wilted under some intense summer heat in Kansas City and the 3-4 road trip ended in disappointing fashion. “We didn’t play good baseball here,” manager Alex Cora said. “The whole thing about, ‘We’re going to be fine,’ … we better start winning games. It is very important. We have a tough week with the Braves, the Orioles, the Yankees. We have to play good baseball to beat these teams.” The road trip finale, which dropped the Red Sox (54-56) two games below .500, was especially tough on center fielder Jarren Duran. Battling the sun all day, Duran failed to get a pair of hits in Kansas City in the third and fifth innings, respectively. And then, after a two-run homer by Tommy Pham put Boston up 5-3 in the seventh, the afternoon got worse for Duran. Nate Eaton started the Kansas City seventh with a routine fly to center that Duran completely missed in the sun for what became a triple. Kyle Isbel launched a deep drive to center and Duran was unable to secure the catch. Another triple and an RBI. Duran did make a diving catch with the next hitter, MJ Melendez. But it was good for a sacrifice fly that put the Royals up 7-3. “He’s our center forward right now, so we trust him,” Cora said of Duran. “He’s a kid that’s part of what we’re trying to accomplish.” Duran spoke to the media after the game to talk about his day on a tough sunny court. “They were all right out in the open and at the last second they fell into the sun,” Duran said. After Melendez’s sacrifice fly, Duran had an exchange with some fans on the Pepsi terrace beyond the center field wall. “I’ve had little bottle caps thrown at me,” Duran said. “I was just telling them to stop throwing it. One of the ushers came. Small bottle caps, but nothing major.” Right fielder Alex Verdugo came in to pitch at that point. “[Verdugo] he came over and just patted me on the back and said, ‘Hey man, don’t worry about it, we all have those days,’” Duran said. Duran said Pham told him he once had three sunballs in Cincinnati. “They were just telling me that it happens, even though you think you’re the only one who’s had it happen,” Duran said. Boston starter Kutter Crawford gave up five runs in five innings. The big blow was a triple homer by Melendez. “I was going for the punchout and I didn’t execute,” Crawford said. “He threw him a hanging curveball.” It was that kind of day for the Red Sox. The Monday off couldn’t have come at a better time.
