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Operating under the assumption their starters could use some more rest heading into the playoffs, the Red Sox have gone to a temporary six-man rotation. We saw a little of how this is going to work out on Tuesday, when the hapless Paul Byrd was sacrificed to Zach Greinke.

Josh Beckett, seemingly out of synch with an extra day, threw hard but was hit hard. In six innings of work he surrendered 12 hits. The anemic Kansis City Royals offense, however, only managed two runs in Boston’s 9-2 win.

Meanwhile, KC starter Luke Hochevar, he of the 7-10 record and 5.79 ERA, limited the Sox offense to one hit through four innings, before imploding in a six-run fifth inning led by Jacoby Ellsbury’s two-run triple.

Notes:

Beckett improved to 16-6…David Ortiz hit his 25th home run of the season and drove in four…the Sox bullpen pitched three scoreless innings to lock up the win.

Tags: David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury, Josh Beckett, Kansas City Royals, Luke Hochevar, Red Sox