Post-Game Thread: Royals fall 5-3

The Kansas City Royals lost their first game of the series Saturday night, falling 5-3 to the Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium.

Jeremy Guthrie could not stop Jacoby Ellsbury, who went 4-for-4 against the right-hander with a pair of RBI doubles.  Guthrie surrendered five runs on 10 hits over six innings, throwing a season-high 123 pitches in the loss.

The Royals normally impressive defensive looked average. Justin Maxwell could not grab a Stephen Drew sinking liner in the four-run fourth that David Lough or Lorenzo Cain would have probably snagged. Will Middlebrooks reached base in the sixth inning on an infield single when Mike Moustakas made a late throw, later scoring on a Ellsbury double.

Kansas City scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the fifth. Alcides Escobar drew a leadoff walk, then scored when Eric Hosmer smacked a double. Billy Butler followed with a double of his own, plating Hosmer. Alex Gordon then hit a single, putting runners on the corners with no outs.

Maxwell struck out for the first out of the inning, but Miguel Tejada followed with an RBI-single. Gordon and Tejada pulled off a double steal, but Mike Moustakas and Brett Hayes could not hit the ball out of the infield, stranding both runners.

The Royals had plenty of opportunities to score, but only went 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position, stranding 10 runners.

Tejada suffered a strained right calf while diving for a groundball. Elliot Johnson replaced Tejada and will presumably start at second Sunday

The Royals will finish the four-game series against the Red Sox Sunday afternoon.