Fermin hits a 12th-inning single to give Royals 2-1 win over Red Sox, 16th win in last 18 games

KANSAS CITY Mo AP Freddy Fermin hit a line drive RBI single into left center in the bottom of the th inning to give the Kansas City Royals a - win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night Steven Cruz - pitched the th for his first major league win as the Royals won their seventh consecutve contest and for the th time in their last games Sean Newcombe - the eighth Red Sox pitcher of the encounter took the loss Each group scored a run in the th after scoreless innings Both starting pitchers cruised Kansas City s Michael Lorenzen gave up just three hits through seven innings striking out seven and walking none He was helped by his defense including a diving stab of a line drive by first baseman Salvador Perez in the fourth Hunter Dobbins didn t allow a run in six innings for Boston though he did have to work around trouble a couple of times He gave up two hits in the fourth inning and a one-out triple in the fifth Devers who created a firestorm Thursday when he reported he wouldn t play first base prompting Red Sox brass to fly to Kansas City to defuse the situation was for with an RBI Key Moment In the fifth inning Kyle Isbel ripped a one-out triple to right center With the infield drawn in Jonathan India hit a slow roller to short Isbel broke for home and was tagged out in a rundown that ended up in a - - - double play Key Stat Lorenzen became the third straight starter for the Royals to pitch seven scoreless innings Up Next The Red Sox will send LHP Garrett Crochet - ERA to the mound to face Kansas City LHP Cole Ragans - in the second challenge of the three-game series on Saturday