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Friday, Aug. 25 8:05pm ET
Royal pain: K.C.'s Suppan stymies Red Sox | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- With each pitch, Jeff Suppan felt more comfortable on the mound. The results showed on the scoreboard. Suppan pitched a five-hitter and the Kansas City Royals snapped a five-game losing streak, beating the Boston Red Sox 6-2 Friday night. Suppan (7-7) pitched his first complete game since last Sept. 16. He got off to a shaky start, giving up Carl Everett's 30th homer in the first. But after allowing a double to Scott Hatteberg in the second and a single to Jose Offerman in the third, Suppan did not allow another hit until the ninth. "I wanted to take it pitch by pitch, inning by inning," Suppan said. "I came out amped up in the first inning and I was keeping the ball up. I made the adjustment to keep the ball down." Suppan struck out three and walked three. "He was real good tonight," Royals manager Tony Muser said. "He kept getting better and getting his curve over early really helped him. The biggest thing is that he has been aggressive with his fastball. He was still going strong in the ninth." Mike Sweeney hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the seventh inning. It was his career-high 23rd home run, surpassing last year's total, and came against Bryce Florie (0-4). "Michael is an RBI addict," Muser said. "When he doesn't get them, he gets upset with himself. He challenges himself to drive in runs. He's had a heck of a year doing that." Sweeney extended his career-best in RBI to 115. "RBIs are nice and home runs are nice, but for me to drive in a lot of runs you have to have a lot of guys on base in front of you," Sweeney said. "Johnny Damon and Rey Sanchez have been on base in front of me all year. They deserve much of the credit." Damon added a two-run homer in the eighth off Florie. The Royals finished with 13 hits, and every starter had at least one. "I gave up two really hard-hit balls that went over the fence," Florie said. "Before that, I gave up two bloop hits. Four runs, game over. "They know what I'm going to throw. They know the sinkerball is my best pitch," he said. To Boston manager Jimy Williams, the location of the sinkers was the big problem. "(Sweeney's home run) was a sinker and it sunk -- over the fence," he said. Red Sox starter Jeff Fassero was less than thrilled about coming out of a 2-2 game with one out in the sixth. He had given up the tying run and had the bases loaded, but felt he should have stayed in. "Nobody around here gets to pitch out of jams except Pedro (Martinez)," Fassero said. "So when that happens, nobody knows how to pitch in that situation." Everett hit a two-run homer, the 99th of his career, with two outs in opening inning. He became the first Red Sox outfielder since 1984 to hit 30 home runs in a season -- Tony Armas had 43 and Dwight Evans had 32 that season. The Royals got a run back in the third on Sanchez's single with two outs. Jeff Reboulet singled and stole second. The Royals pulled even in the sixth when Jermaine Dye led off with a double down the left-field line and scored on Joe Randa's single. Kansas City loaded the bases with one out, but Reboulet struck out and Damon flied out. In the seventh, Sanchez led off with a single and Sweeney homered. Game notesEverett's home run was the 199th allowed by the Royals, three shy of the club record set in 1999. ... Red Sox SS Nomar Garciaparra missed his third straight game with a strained left hamstring. He is listed as day-to-day. ... Sweeney has a 12-game hitting streak. ... The Royals now have four complete games in the last eight games, after recording only three in the first 120 games. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Boston Clubhouse Kansas City Clubhouse RECAPS Baltimore 4 Tampa Bay 3
Kansas City 6
Los Angeles 3
San Francisco 16
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