BOSTONApparently the Red Sox cant just beat up on the pathetic Mariners every single night.
The Sox certainly didnt play well enough to beat the Kansas City Royals, and played just badly enough in a rain-delayed 14th inning marathon session to lose by a 3-1 score at Fenway Park.
Mike Aviles pushed a run across with a squeeze bunt and an Alcides Escobar sacrifice fly to center field gave KC an insurance run while saddling reliever Randy Williams with his first loss as a member of the Sox.
The Sox had three chances in the final five innings to win the game with a runner on third base and less than two outs, but frustratingly came up empty each time in an impressive show of extra inning futility.
The Red Sox scored their lone run in the bottom of the second inning with two outs after Carl Crawford reached on a fielders choice. Crawford scampered to second base for his 11th stolen base of the season and then scored on a Josh Reddick double that was smoked to the gap between right field and center field.
Lester protected the one-run lead for nearly his entire return outing from a strained left lat, but faltered in the sixth inning as fatigue caught up to him. Melky Cabrera opened the frame up with a single and then scored all the way from first base on a Billy Butler double into the left field corner. Butler was gunned down trying to advance to third base, and Lesters night was over after 89 pitches when he walked Eric Hosmer as the next batter he faced.