KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lucas Giolito hasn’t lost or given up more than three runs in a start since mid-April. The Royals have been striking out at an alarming rate.

Given those trends, Giolito’s latest dominant outing wasn’t much of a surprise.

Giolito worked into the eighth inning and had a career-high 11 strikeouts — all in the first five innings — to win his seventh consecutive start, outdueling Brad Keller as the Chicago White Sox beat Kansas City 2-0 on Saturday.

“Giolito’s tough on everybody right now,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He has changed his whole delivery over the last year and a half, two years. Now he’s shortened up his arm stroke and his changeup is dynamic. It’s a plus-plus changeup. He’s got great arm speed. His slider’s a plus slider. Anywhere from 93 to 96 (mph) with his fastball, with command. He’s just kind of come into his own and quite frankly has developed into one of the best pitchers in this league.”

Giolito (9-1) allowed three hits and two walks in 7 2/3 innings and lowered his ERA to 2.28. He has allowed no more than one run in six of his seven straight wins. Giolito went 10-13 with a 6.13 ERA in 2018, his first full season.

The hottest pitcher in baseball said he was merely executing catcher James McCann’s game plan.

“I threw a lot of fastballs and sliders, because I’m usually fastball/changeup heavy,” Giolito said. “They had some righties in the lineup, so we waited until the fourth inning. We were able to keep them off-balance and get a lot of weak contact.”

Or no contact at all.

Giolito recorded eight consecutive outs via strikeout from the start of the second inning until he retired Nicky Lopez on a foul pop to end the fourth. Then he struck out the side again in a perfect fifth.

The Royals have seen him more than anyone — he’s 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA in four starts against Kansas City this season.

“His numbers don’t lie,” Keller said. “He’s been throwing the ball really, really well. You know it’s going to be a low-scoring game. You just try to limit them as much as possible.”

Rookie Eloy Jimenez hit a two-run homer in the second inning off Keller (3-8), who otherwise was nearly as good as Giolito. Jimenez’s blast snapped a 42-inning homerless streak for Keller, who worked eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out four.

“Keller did a nice job minimizing damage, holding us to two runs,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “It was a pitching duel on both sides. It was a nice game.”

The Royals reached double figures in strikeouts for the 10th time in their last 15 games. They have 149 Ks over that span. Ryan O’Hearn fanned in his first two at-bats, extending his streak of games with multiple strikeouts to five.

Yost was ejected for arguing a strike call to Alex Gordon in the sixth inning.

TRAINER’S ROOM

LHP Danny Duffy, who was hit by a line drive in Thursday’s start against Boston, is on track to make his next start against Detroit. “He’s feeling better. He’ll get an extra day because of the off day on Monday, but we’ll make the determination when we get closer,” Yost said.

UP NEXT

The White Sox will send RHP Reynaldo Lopez (3-6, 6.62 ERA) to the mound in Sunday’s series finale. RHP Glenn Sparkman (1-1, 3.77), who was ejected in the second inning on May 29 against Chicago when he hit shortstop Tim Anderson in the head with a changeup, starts for Kansas City. The Royals will try to win the rubber game of a series for the first time since May 30, 2018 — an 0-13 stretch in that situation.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mookie Betts is pretty good against Danny Duffy.

Betts hit a two-run homer off Danny Duffy in a four-run third inning and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Kansas City Royals 7-5 Thursday to complete their first series sweep in nearly a month.

Betts is 7 for 11 with five home runs against Duffy (3-3).

“I put some good swings on some good pitches,” Betts said.

Betts has six hits, five home runs and a walk in his last seven plate appearances against Duffy.

“I’ve got to a better job of not serving it to him on a platter,” Duffy said. “He’s got five bombs against me in 11 at-bats. … If you make stupid mistakes like that he’s going to capitalize.”

Boston outscored the Royals 23-8 over three games and extended its winning streak to four. The Red Sox swept a series for just the fourth time this year, the first since May 10-12 against the Chicago White Sox. The World Series champions are 27-16 following a 6-13 start and face the second-place Rays in a four-game weekend series at Fenway Park.

“We have some confidence going against a really good ballclub,” Betts said. “Ride the wave through this weekend.”

Kansas City has lost six straight and nine of 10, dropping to a big league-worst 19-43.

With a doubleheader coming up Saturday against Tampa Bay, Boston gave Ryan Weber his third start. He allowed two runs and five hits in 1 1/3 innings, and Colten Brewer (1-2) followed with two scoreless innings of two-hit relief.

Matt Barnes, Boston’s seventh pitcher, allowed Jorge Soler’s one-out RBI double in the ninth but got his fourth save in seven chances by striking out Ryan O’Hearn and Chelsor Cuthbert.

Duffy allowed four runs and four hits in 2 1/3 innings. Eduardo Nunez’s hard drive went off the inside of Duffy’s right kneecap and ricocheted to O’Hearn, who tagged Nunez for the final out of the second. Duffy retired one of six batters he faced in the third.

“It’s sore, but it didn’t affect me,” Duffy said. “If I go back out there it’s because I can. If I can, there are no excuses.”

Betts’ 10th home run tied the score, and Rafael Devers put Boston ahead with a two-run single.

Soler’s fifth-inning homer cut the deficit to 4-3, but Christian Vazquez hit a two-run triple in the seventh and scored on Scott Barlow’s wild pitch.

Cuthbert and Alex Gordon homered for the Royals.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox DH J.D. Martinez was removed in the fifth inning because of back spasms. … LHP Brian Johnson, on the IL since April 6 because of elbow inflammation, is to make his sixth minor league injury rehab appearance Sunday.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: RHP Rick Porcello (4-5, 4.76 ERA) starts Friday’s opener of a four-game series against visiting Tampa Bay.

Royals: RHP Homer Bailey (4-6, 6.05 ERA) takes the mound Friday at home against the White Sox.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chris Sale strode to the dugout after the seventh inning Wednesday night, and Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora asked his lanky left-hander whether he could keep going on a hot, humid night in Kansas City.

“I’ll finish this off,” Sale replied.

Did he ever.

Sale struck out the side on nine pitches in the eighth for his second immaculate inning this season. Then the seven-time All-Star breezed through the Royals in the ninth, wrapping up an 8-0 win for his third career shutout.

“Any time you can finish a game, that’s what you sign up for,” said Sale, who allowed just three hits while striking out 12 without a walk. “I’ve never started a game I didn’t intend to finish.”

Sale (2-7) has rebounded from a dismal April to put together a series of solid starts. His seventh double-digit strikeout game of the season was punctuated by that perfect eighth, when even Royals fans roared as he mowed through Kelvin Gutierrez, Nicky Lopez and Martin Maldonado.

Sale also had an immaculate inning May 8 against Baltimore, making him the second pitcher with two in one season since strikeout records have been kept. Lefty Grove did it in 1928.

“That was one of his best,” Cora said about Sale’s outing.

Boston’s ace had plenty of help: Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a three-run double during a four-run fifth that broke the game open, and Rafael Devers homered and finished with three RBI.

“We did a lot of good things offensively,” Cora said, “but we can still be better.”

Hard to imagine. The Red Sox have won three straight, scoring eight runs in each game. They’ve also won five straight at Kauffman Stadium dating to last season.

They jumped ahead against Royals starter Jakob Junis (4-6) with two runs in the first. And after the young right-hander settled down for a while, stranding runners at the corners in the second, Andrew Benintendi’s leadoff double in the fifth sparked the Red Sox onslaught.

By the time they loaded the bases later in the inning, and Bradley proceeded to empty them, Junis was headed for the showers and Boston was headed for another easy win.

“First inning didn’t go great, but I battled and made pitches when I needed to I felt like,” said Junis, who allowed six runs on eight hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings. “It wasn’t all as bad as it looked tonight, I think. I made some better pitches than the scoreboard shows.”

Still, it was the fifth straight loss for Kansas City, which fell to 19-42 — the second-worst start through that many games in club history. Twenty-three defeats have come in games the Royals at one point led, including the series opener against Boston on Tuesday night.

“It was just one of those nights where we couldn’t do much,” manager Ned Yost said.

STATS AND STREAKS

The Red Sox have homered in 22 of their last 25 games. … Sale was making his 300th big league appearance. He also won his fifth straight in Kansas City. … Benintendi and Brock Holt each had three hits. Holt also drove in a run. … Junis has allowed first-inning runs in eight of 13 starts. … Kansas City has been shut out three times this season. … First base umpire Dan Iassogna twice had calls overturned by replay. The combined time of the delays was just 1 minute, 23 seconds.

FEELING DRAFTY

The Red Sox concluded the first-year player draft with a couple of notable picks, including 1B Ryan Berardino in the 34th round. His grandfathers are longtime minor league manager Dick Berardino and former Boston outfielder Dwight Evans.

The Royals went heavy on college players in the draft. Among those chosen on Day 3 was UC Irvine right-hander Jonah DiPoto, the son of Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto, and Indiana State third baseman Jake Means, whose brother John pitched for Baltimore on Wednesday night.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: 1B Mitch Moreland (lower back) will likely be activated for Friday night’s series opener at Tampa Bay, Cora said. Moreland has been hitting off a tee the past couple of days.

UP NEXT

The Red Sox will go with Ryan Weber (1-1, 4.50 ERA) as an opener with Michael Shawaryn backing him up in Thursday’s series finale. The Royals counter with Danny Duffy (3-2, 4.05).

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Alex Cora kept watching the Red Sox hammer pitches right at the Kansas City Royals during the first few innings Tuesday night, and the Boston skipper was confident that eventually some of them would find their way through.

Eduardo Nunez finally solved the problem by depositing a pitch over the fence.

His pinch-hit, three-run homer in the eighth inning broke open what had been a nip-and-tuck game, and the Red Sox went on to beat the Royals 8-3 to open a grueling stretch of 17 games in 16 days.

“We were swinging the bat well. I know we didn’t score early, but that was the hardest we’d hit the ball all season,” Cora said. “Eventually we got some results.”

Rafael Devers also drove in a pair of runs for the Red Sox, while Eduardo Rodriguez (6-3) kept the Royals at bay over 5 2/3 innings. He allowed just six hits while striking out seven, his only mistake a pitch in the second that Cheslor Cuthbert sent to left field for a two-run homer.

Glenn Sparkman matched Rodriguez most of the way, but he left a runner on base when he was lifted with one out in the sixth. Scott Barlow (1-2) promptly gave up the lead with a miserable relief outing, and Nunez’s homer off Jake Diekman in the eighth inning was merely the finishing touch.

The Red Sox improved to 9-1 in Rodriguez’s last 10 starts.

“I think the only pitch I missed was the one that he hit the homer,” Rodriguez said. “Everybody believes in this offense. We’ve just got to keep the game close when we’re out there.”

Meanwhile, the woebegone Royals lost for an AL-leading 20th time when they had the lead.

Even more frustrating for Kansas City: Sparkman was slicing up Boston’s lineup, allowing just two hits through five innings. But after Mookie Betts’ leadoff double in the sixth, and Andrew Benintendi’s flyout, Sparkman was yanked by manager Ned Yost despite having thrown just 80 pitches.

“I felt really good,” Sparkman said, “but I hadn’t gone that high, so 85 was probably the limit.”

Barlow entered the game and the spark went out of the Royals.

J.D. Martinez delivered an RBI triple, Devers drew a walk and Xander Bogaerts added a sacrifice fly to knot the game 2-all. Brock Holt followed with a double to give the Red Sox their first lead.

“Cuthbert’s home run was good. We took a two-run lead going to the sixth there,” Yost said. “Sparkman’s high-water mark was 68 pitches, so we were going to take him to 80 or around there. He got right to the 80 mark. We decided to bring in one of our most productive relievers.”

It was still 3-2 in the eighth when Nunez connected for Boston’s second pinch-hit homer this season.

“It was a matter of having good at-bats,” Cora said, “and getting to the bullpen.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox 1B Mitch Moreland (low back strain) hit off a tee and could return when he’s eligible this week, Cora said. He went on the injured list retroactive to May 26. … 1B Steve Pearce (low back strain) is still not doing any baseball activities. He went on the IL on Saturday.

Royals 3B Hunter Dozier (strained oblique) was placed on the IL before the game, though the move was retroactive to last Friday. Yost was optimistic Dozier will be back in about a week.

DRAFT UPDATE

The Red Sox made a couple of convenient picks when the first-year player draft resumed Tuesday. In the third round, they selected big Kansas right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn. Two rounds later, they took his battery mate in catcher Jaxx Groshans.

The Royals focused on college pitching on Day 2 of the draft, grabbing five more to go with right-hander Alec Marsh, their compensatory pick out of Arizona State. The Royals likewise stockpiled college arms in last year’s draft, using their first five picks on them.

UP NEXT

Left-hander Chris Sale (1-7, 4.35 ERA) tries to bounce back from three straight shaky starts when he takes the mound for Boston on Wednesday night. RHP Jakob Junis (4-5, 5.35) starts for Kansas City.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY – As expected, the Royals used their No. 2 pick in the Draft to select Texas high school shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., the son of former Major League pitcher Bobby Witt.

Witt, from Colleyville, Texas, hit .489 this year with more home runs (15) than strikeouts (11).

General manager Dayton Moore said in a conference call that the Royals scouted Witt for virtually every inning he played during his senior year. Moore also said he spent two days with Witt and his family about a month ago.

“Very impressed with his makeup,” Moore said.

Witt said that he and his father teared up after the Royals made the pick.

“It was emotional,” Witt said in a conference call. “This is something I’ve dreamed about. I’m super-excited. I’m at a loss for words right now.”

The only other times the Royals had the No. 2 pick, they chose Alex Gordon (2005) and Mike Moustakas (2007).

Witt, 18, is six feet and 180 pounds, and was ranked the No. 2 overall Draft prospect by MLB Pipeline. He was the Gatorade 2019 national high school player of the year.

“Alex Rodriguez is the best shortstop prospect I’ve seen, but Bobby Witt Jr. certainly belongs right up there,” a longtime scout, now with a NL club, recently told MLB Pipeline. “He can match up with guys toolswise, and what he also has is a high baseball IQ. People lose sight of it because the tools are so strong, but he’s a really good player to go with it.”

The Royals also view Witt as a versatile player who could be moved around defensively, perhaps even to the outfield. The Royals have budding star Adalberto Mondesi at shortstop, Nicky Lopez at second base and Hunter Dozier at third base for the foreseeable future.

“I feel like I can play any position they want me to play,” Witt said. “That’s up to them.”

“He is a very versatile player, no doubt,” Moore said.

As the No. 2 pick, Witt’s assigned slot value will be $7,789,900.

The Draft continues on Tuesday with Rounds 3-10.

— Jeffrey Flanagan MLB.com —