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Boston Red Sox vs Kansas City Royals: Two teams, two different directions

By Jason Haskins

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 04: Eduardo Nunez #36 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates a win with teammates after a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 04: Eduardo Nunez #36 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates a win with teammates after a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on July 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
(Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) /

Fresh off a sweep of the Washington Nationals, the Boston Red Sox continue their road trip with a three-game set against the Kansas City Royals.

Three short seasons ago, the Boston Red Sox were coming off a last-place finish in the A.L. East while the Kansas City Royals were winning their first championship in 30 years.

When the two teams meet up in Kansas City this weekend, they’ll find they’re both headed in two very different directions.

The Red Sox (59-29) are vying for their third-straight A.L. East title thanks to an offense leading the American League in runs scored (457) and batting average (.266). Boston is also second in slugging percentage (.456) while swatting 124 home runs.

Throw in a pitching staff with a 3.55 ERA, third in the A.L., and Boston has a nicely conjured recipe for success.

The same cannot be said for the Royals (25-61) so far in 2018.

A far cry from their championship season, the Royals won a grand total of five games in June. They scored two runs or less 16 times in the month and most recently were swept by the Cleveland Indians to begin July.

Kansas City is hitting .237 as a team, with 297 runs scored. They’ve hit 68 home runs — a pace even the 2017 Boston Red Sox might have frowned upon.

The pitching staff of the Royals hasn’t been much better. They have delivered a 5.18 ERA while allowing a major-league high 464 runs.

Boston took two out of three from Kansas City back in a late-April/early-May series.

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