BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox slammed their way through their most wins in April ever.

Xander Bogaerts hit a grand slam over the Green Monster and Boston finished April by beating the Kansas City Royals 10-6 on Monday night.

Mitch Moreland hit a solo homer and had three hits along with Bogaerts for the Red Sox, who posted their 19th victory in April. They had reached 18 three times, the last coming in their World Series-winning 2013 season.

It was Boston’s sixth slam of the season — all coming in April — and tied them with 1996 Montreal Expos for most ever in the majors by May 1. The Red Sox didn’t even hit one last season.

“I didn’t hit a grand slam in my career, it’s not because of me,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said, breaking into a smile.

Bogaerts had a simple answer.

“Especially with the bases loaded, we’re getting some good swings,” he said. “I think we’ve been really selective and looking for some good pitches to hit.”

Despite playing, at times, in lousy conditions at home — like Monday night when it was chilly night with temperatures in the mid-40s and a light rain falling most of the game — the Red Sox offense continues to hit homers unlike the team that was last in the AL in 2017.

“It’s not the best weather to play in,” Bogaerts said. “But, it’s playable.”

Whit Merrifield had three hits and two RBI for the Royals, who were coming off their first consecutive wins this season.

Hector Velazquez (4-0), the first of three relievers, worked two scoreless innings of relief for the victory.

Trailing 3-0, Boston scored a run in the second on Moreland’s homer and five off Jason Hammel (0-3) in a third inning highlighted by Bogaerts’ slam that completely left Fenway Park. Moreland drew a bases-loaded walk for the other run.

“I thought that Jason’s first couple of innings were good and then he really started to fight it himself a little bit in the third,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “The grand slam was a pitch that was up and in, which I don’t think he was trying to go there.”

Boston fell in the 3-0 hole in the first when starter Eduardo Rodriguez gave up three runs on three walks, two singles and a hit batsman.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: SS Alcides Escobar was back in the lineup after leaving Sunday’s game with a bruised left hand from being hit by a pitch. … DH Mike Moustakas was hit by a pitch and came out with a bruised left forearm.

Red Sox: Cora decided to give OF Mookie Betts a second straight day off because of a tight right hamstring that forced him out Saturday. “I feel like not starting today is going to benefit him, but if we need it late in the game, we’ll use him,” Cora said.

PRESS BOX CONFUSION

The Royals made a late lineup change, which caused confusion in the press box when everyone thought the club had moved its DH to third base after Moustakas had to leave in the first.

It would have forced pitcher Hammel to hit.

The problem was: The Royals had given a new lineup to the umpires from the one posted in the press box and on Fenway’s scoreboards that had Moustakas at third base and Cheslor Cuthbert as the DH.

Cuthbert came in at third base at the bottom of the first.

GONE EARLY

Both starting pitchers were out by the fifth inning.

Rodriguez gave up five runs, walked three, hit two batters and struck out six in four.

Hammel was tagged for eight runs on eight hits in 4 2/3.

SPECIAL GUESTS

The Royals’ traveling party had 28 extra guests because they were invited to bring their dads or brothers on the trip.

“I really, really enjoy it — a chance to come to Fenway. They went on a tour here, a private tour. I think they all enjoyed that,” Yost said. “It’s just a phenomenal trip together being able to share three days like this.”

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Jakob Junis (3-2, 3.34 ERA) hopes to rebound Tuesday from a miserable previous start when gave up a club-record tying five homers against the White Sox.

Red Sox: LHP Chris Sale (2-1, 2.31) looks to continue his strong run, having allowed three or fewer runs — one or less four times — in his initial six starts.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It took the Kansas City Royals 27 games, but they finally have a winning streak.

Cheslor Cuthbert homered twice and drove in four runs as the Royals won back-to-back games for the first time this season, defeating the Chicago White Sox 5-4 Sunday.

Whit Merrifield singled home Alcides Escobar, who was hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning, with the go-ahead run in the eighth off Bruce Rondon (1-1). Escobar left in the ninth with a left hand contusion.

“It’s been a struggle for us so far,” Merrifield said. “That was a big one. Hopefully that can get us over the hump and we can have more of those.”

Cuthbert, who had not homered since August 20 — a span on 109 at-bats — drove a Hector Santiago pitch into the White Sox bullpen in the fourth to snap an 0-for-14.

“Finally,” Cuthbert said. “It’s really fun to have a game like that and for us to get a win.”

He homered in the fifth with Salvador Perez and Jorge Soler aboard off Chris Volstad. It was Cuthbert’s second career multi-homer game. The other was June 11, 2016.

“I feel like it was a pretty good pitch, down and in,” Volstad said. “He just dropped the barrel of the bat on it and he hit it pretty high. I didn’t know if it was going to get out or not. It barely did.”

Royals starter Ian Kennedy left after five innings with a 4-2 lead, but reliever Brian Flynn could not hold it.

“It’s been frustrating overall all, just trying to find those back-to-back wins,” Kennedy said.

Daniel Palka doubled home two White Sox runs in the fourth, giving him five RBI in two games.

Santiago was making his first start of the season after seven relief appearances and was removed after 4 2/3 innings and 86 pitches.

“I felt great in that fifth inning,” he said. “I think they were kind of thinking 85. It’s baby steps when you’re coming out of the pen and trying to get to stretched out to 100 pitches. They’re always cautious about that big jump from 50 to 100 in one outing.”

Leury Garcia’s two-out triple in the sixth scored Trayce Thompson, cutting the Royals lead to 4-3. Nicky Delmonico’s run-producing double in the seventh tied the score.

The Royals loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh, but failed to score. Kansas City is 4-for-25, .160, with the bases loaded this season.

“That’s how it is been going for us,” Merrifield said. “It really couldn’t have gotten much worse for us as far as runners on third and less than two out, all that kind of stuff.”

Brandon McCarthy (2-0) picked up the victory, while Blaine Boyer logged his fifth career save and his first since May 29, 2016 while with Milwaukee.

SPEAKING

“Somehow from spring to the beginning of the season, I just completely got out of whack,” said Boyer, who has a 15.00 ERA in nine innings. “It’s frustrating after 19 years in the game and you feel like you fall off a bicycle and you get back on and don’t know how to ride it again. I’m glad to be back to my normal self.”

NOT OVER YET

The quarrel between Royals catcher Perez and White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson may not be finished. The two exchanged words Saturday after Perez thought Anderson celebrated too much after a leadoff home run. “I play this game with my heart and I put a lot of work into it and I’m not going to change because of that,” Anderson said. “It’s not the first incident and it’s probably not going to be the last.” The two teams meet 12 more times this season with the next nine in Chicago. “(Matt) Davidson, he has a pretty good season here, nobody to hit him, you know,” Perez said. “He hits the ball, homer and runs hard. Why you gotta hit him? No. But if you’re gonna do that (bleep) to us, we’re gonna hit you. We will tell the pitcher, `hit him.” Davidson has seven home runs against the Royals this season.

RENTERIA RETURNS

White Sox manager Rick Renteria returned after missing the three games Friday and Saturday to attend his mother’s funeral services in Austin, Texas. “Our family is very grateful to everybody,” he said. “We had a lot of outpouring from the game. My family’s very thankful for that. We think she’s in a much better place now. We see her laughing in our mind’s eye, now. I’m sure she’ll be up there cheering the White Sox on with my dad and probably arguing (with the umpires) out there with me every now and then.” He said he received game reports updates while away. “Kind of kept up with everything,” Renteria said.

UP NEXT

White Sox: After an off-day Monday, RHP James Shields will start Tuesday at St. Louis. He is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA in his last three starts.

Royals: RHP Jason Hammel will start Monday at Boston in the opener of a three-game series.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Eric Skoglund overcame a leadoff homer by Tim Anderson that led to a bench-clearing incident, pitching Kansas City past the Chicago White Sox 5-2 to end the Royals’ five-game losing streak and give them a split of Saturday’s day-night doubleheader.

Anderson celebrated as he rounded the bases and Royals catcher Salvador Perez said something to him as he crossed the plate.

In the bottom of the first, Perez reached on an error and moved to second base when Lucas Duda walked to load the bases. There, Perez and Anderson, the shortstop, had more words as both dugouts and bullpens emptied.

No punches were thrown and order was quickly restored. Perez and Anderson shook hands.

The White Sox won the opener 8-0 as Carson Fulmer allowed four singles over seven innings and Daniel Palka had four hits and drove in three runs.

Skoglund (1-2) pitched seven impressive innings to pick up his first win in nearly a year. He retired 15 straight after Anderson’s homer.

Skoglund permitted just two hits and struck out a career-high nine. His only other victory was May 30, 2017, in his big league debut.

Kelvin Herrera pitched the ninth for his fifth save in as many opportunities.

Alex Gordon drove in his first three runs of the season for Kansas City. He had a two-out, two-run single in a three-run first.

Dylan Covey (0-1) allowed four runs, three unearned after left fielder Leury Garcia’s first-inning error, over six innings.

Covey, just recalled from Triple-A Charlotte, is 0-8 in 13 major league starts.

Jorge Soler and Perez hit back-to-back doubles in the fifth for the other Kansas City run.

Fulmer (2-1) left after 109 pitches, walked three and struck out three. In his past two starts, he has allowed seven hits and two runs over 13 innings.

Palka, who was hitless in his first eight at-bats since debuting Wednesday, was a triple shy of a cycle. He hit a three-run homer in the seventh off Burch Smith.

Trevor Oaks (0-1), who was the Royals’ 26h man, gave up five runs on 12 hits over five innings in his major league debut.

WALKING MAN

Soler has walked in nine consecutive games, the longest streak in the majors this season.

BUCHHOLZ UPDATE

Royals RHP Clay Buchholz allowed one earned run on four hits over five innings in a no-decision in a start for Triple-A Omaha at Colorado Springs. The 33-year-old, who was a two-time AL All-Star with Boston, is 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA in three minor league starts. He signed a minor league contract in late March with the Royals with an out clause if not added to the big league roster by Tuesday.

UP NEXT

The Royals will start RHP Ian Kennedy in the series finale. He left his previous start after three innings with a bruised toe from a line drive. The White Sox have not yet announced their starter.

— Associated Press —