Red Sox Blast 3 Home Runs, Sale Strikes Out 12 In Win Over Royals

Chris Sale struck out 12 in six solid innings and the Red Sox offense supported their ace with three early home runs as Boston beat the Kansas City Royals 10-5 on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Sale allowed just one run on five hits and one walk while striking out 12. The win was Sale's 100th of his career. He improves to 9-4 with a 2.36 ERA.

Boston wasted no time getting its bats going, scoring four runs in each of the first two innings.

Mookie Betts led off the game with the 100th home run of his career. The shot to left center field was his 22nd home run of the season.

J.D. Martinez added a two-run shot in the top of the second, his major league-leading 27th home run of the year.

Xander Bogaerts chipped in a two-run bomb of his own later in the inning.

Reliever Tyler Thornburg pitched the seventh, his first appearance in the Major Leagues since Oct. 2, 2016.

The Red Sox acquired Thornburg in exchange for Travis Shaw in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers in December 2016.

Thornburg started the 2017 season on the disabled list with a shoulder injury and underwent season-ending surgery to repair Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.

The Red Sox improve to 60-29 and own a two-game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East.

David Price (9-6, 4.28 ERA) will look to rebound from a tough outing when the Red Sox take on the Royals in game two of their three-game series Saturday night in Kansas City.

Price allowed eight earned runs over 3.1 innings against the Yankees on Sunday.

The Red Sox lefty will be opposed by 22-year-old rookie Brad Keller (2-3, 2.09 ERA).