A wild pitch and successful challenge by the Boston Red Sox on a tag play in the sixth inning proved to be the difference-maker in the Kansas City Royals’ 6-5 loss Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.

With the game tied at 3-3, Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo gave up a double and single, then threw a wild pitch that allowed Dominic Smith to score, after the Red Sox successfully challenged that Smith avoided the tag at the plate. That saw Lugo’s night come to a close, after reliever Sam Long loaded the bases and gave up a grounder to Masataka Yoshida that scored two runs. The Royals had initially led the game after Vinnie Pasquantino’s single in the first, then tied the game with two runs in the fifth after Boston plated two runs in the second and Yoshida’s home run in the third. MJ Melendez had two RBIs in the eighth with a double that scored Pasquantino and Salvador Perez. The Royals’ threat was contained by longtime reliever Kenley Jansen, who recorded three strikeouts in his 1.1 inning save appearance.

Lugo suffered the loss, with four earned runs on six hits and four walks while striking out four.

The Royals are now just a half-game ahead of Boston in the AL wild card race, with a 5.5 game deficit to Cleveland in the AL Central after the Guardians’ game against Arizona was postponed to a doubleheader Wednesday. Kansas City look to avoid the sweep this evening in the series finale against Boston. Pregame is at 6:30 p.m. on KMMO-FM 102.9, with first pitch at 7:10.