The Kansas City Royals beat the rain by moving their Monday, May 18 game against Boston up by 30 minutes, but Sonny Gray still shined in the Red Sox’s 3-1 win over KC at Kauffman Stadium.

Gray and Royals starter Seth Lugo pitched five scoreless innings, with Gray recording nine strikeouts and Lugo five. The first blemish came in the top of the sixth, when Willson Contreras lit up Lugo with a two-run home run to left-center field. Boston added a run in the seventh off reliever Alex Lange, when Jarren Duran provided a sacrifice fly to score Connor Wong. The Royals got on the board after the stretch, when Carter Jansen led off the inning with a walk, then made it home on Jac Caglianone’s double to right field. That was it for Gray, as the Boston bullpen took over to record another four strikeouts and allow one hit the rest of the game.

The Royals were one-for-seven with runners in scoring position, stranding those runners four times. Lugo was assessed his fourth loss of the season, allowing the two-run home run among five hits and two walks, striking out five. Gray collected his fifth win of the year, going into the seventh inning and allowing the lone run on five hits and one walk. Aroldis Chapman secured his 11th save of the year by retiring the side in the ninth.

The Royals are now 20-28, 6.5 games behind Cleveland in the AL Central. With injuries continuing to mount in the starting rotation, KC will turn to Bailey Falter on Tuesday evening, while Boston send to the bump Ranger Suarez. Pregame is at 6 p.m., with first pitch at 6:40 p.m., on KMMO-FM 102.9.