BOSTON (Interstat) — The Kansas City Royals used an early offensive burst from rookie catcher Carter Jensen and a steady pitching performance from Seth Lugo to defeat the Boston Red Sox 3-2 on Friday, Sept. 11, at Fenway Park. Jensen, making his first appearance at the historic ballpark, doubled twice, scored two runs and drove in one as Kansas City won the opener of a three-game series. Lugo earned the win after allowing two earned runs over five innings. Steven Cruz worked a scoreless ninth for the save. Boston right-hander Sonny Gray took the loss despite a quality start. The Royals improved to 66-82, while the Red Sox fell to 80-68. Kansas City finished with 10 hits, and Boston had eight. Attendance was 36,890, and the game took 2 hours, 41 minutes.

Kansas City wasted little time against Gray. Jensen opened the game with a double to center field. He moved to third on Bobby Witt Jr.’s groundout to shortstop and scored on Salvador Perez’s two-out single to left. Gray struck out Vinnie Pasquantino earlier in the inning, and Michael Massey grounded out to end the first. Boston put two runners on in the bottom of the first when Roman Anthony singled and Wilyer Abreu added a line-drive single, but Lugo struck out Adley Rutschman and retired Trevor Story on a popout to first base in foul territory.

The Royals went down in order in the second. John Rave grounded out, Nick Loftin lined out to right, and Kyle Isbel lined out sharply to center. Boston also threatened in the second. Caleb Durbin singled and Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled, but Lugo struck out Jarren Duran and Roman Anthony to keep the Red Sox off the scoreboard. Lugo mixed his pitches effectively and kept Boston from producing a big inning.

Kansas City extended its lead in the third. Isaac Collins lined a ground-rule double down the right-field line. Jensen followed with a sharp double to left that scored Collins. After Witt Jr. flied out sharply to center, Vinnie Pasquantino singled to right, scoring Jensen. Perez then grounded into a double play to end the inning. Boston got a two-out walk from Rutschman in the bottom of the third, but Abreu flied out to left and Story grounded into a forceout.

The Red Sox cut into the deficit in the fifth. Mickey Gasper homered to right-center field to put Boston on the board. Rutschman then walked, and Abreu doubled to center, scoring Rutschman. The rally came after Lugo had retired the first batter of the inning. Lugo responded by striking out Story and Nick Sogard to end the inning and preserve the Kansas City lead. Lugo finished with five innings pitched, seven hits allowed, two earned runs and seven strikeouts. Gray went six innings, allowing six hits, three earned runs and striking out five.

Boston’s bullpen kept the game close. Jovani Morán tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Erik Miller worked a scoreless inning with one hit and one strikeout. Greg Weissert recorded two outs while allowing three hits but no runs. The Boston bullpen combined for three scoreless innings after Gray left. Kansas City’s bullpen matched that effort. Nolan Hoffman pitched a scoreless sixth with one strikeout. Connor Thomas threw a scoreless seventh. Nate Pearson allowed one hit in a scoreless eighth, and Cruz closed it out with a perfect ninth, striking out one.

Kansas City had chances to add insurance but left runners on base. In the sixth, Massey singled and Rave walked, but Loftin grounded out. In the seventh, Isbel singled and moved to second on Collins’ sacrifice bunt. After an intentional walk to Witt Jr., Pasquantino grounded out. In the eighth, Perez and Massey singled, and Loftin hit a ground-rule double down the left-field line, but Isbel flied out to right to end the threat. In the ninth, Collins walked and advanced to third on Jensen’s groundout. Boston intentionally walked Witt Jr., but Jovani Morán struck out Pasquantino and Tyler Tolbert.

Boston’s best late chance came in the eighth. Trevor Story doubled to left, and the Royals challenged a tag play, but the call was upheld. Story moved to third on Sogard’s flyout to right. Caleb Durbin then struck out swinging to end the inning. In the ninth, Duran flied out to left, Kiner-Falefa lined out to right, and Anthony struck out swinging to finish the game. Cruz earned his seventh save of the season. The Royals’ defense, led by Jensen behind the plate and Pasquantino at first base, held Boston to eight hits.

Jensen’s performance continued a strong stretch. He extended his on-base streak to 15 games, the second-longest of his career behind a 20-game run from June 6-30. Each of his last 11 hits has gone for extra bases, including six doubles, a triple and four home runs. That is the longest such streak by a rookie and by a catcher in Royals franchise history. His first-inning double was his 30th of the season, and his third-inning double was his 31st. His next home run would give him 24 for the season, tying Bob Hamelin’s 1994 mark for the Royals’ single-season rookie record.

The win gave Kansas City a positive start to its road trip. The Royals had beaten Arizona 5-2 on Wednesday before traveling to Boston. The Red Sox had lost to the Los Angeles Angels 6-4 on Wednesday. Kansas City and Boston were scheduled to continue their series Saturday and Sunday at Fenway Park. The Royals then head to Houston for a three-game series, while Boston travels to Texas next week. The Royals’ next homestand begins Sept. 22 against the Chicago White Sox, and Boston hosts Cleveland on Sept. 22.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Boston Red Sox 6, Kansas City Royals 3, and its ELO system had projected Boston with a 62.9 percent probability to win. Boston had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 5 went over the over/under line of 8.5.