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KANSAS CITY Dan Hamhuis Jersey Kids , Mo. — The opener of the Boston Red Sox’s three-game series with the Kansas City Royals on Friday night went as anticipated on paper.

The Red Sox jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two innings and Chris Sale dominated the Royals, striking out 12 in six innings. The Royals scored four meaningless runs the final three innings against the Red Sox bullpen in a 10-5 loss.

The Red Sox and Royals will meet again Saturday night and Boston will again be heavily favored.

Boston (60-29) leads the majors with 60 victories and has a major league-best .674 winning percentage. The Red Sox are 31 games above .500 for the first time since concluding the 2013 season at 97-65.

Their 60 wins are the fourth most after 89 games in the 118-year franchise history. The only teams with more wins after 89 games were the 1946 Red Sox at 63-26 and the 1912 and 1978 clubs at 61-28.

Boston is 5-2 on its nine-game, 10-day trip to New York, Washington and Kansas City. It is 32-17 away from Fenway Park.

The Red Sox are 3-1 against the Royals this season. The Royals went 8-4 against the Red Sox in the previous two seasons, Boston’s worst record against any opponent during that span.

Left-hander David Price will start for the Red Sox on Saturday. He is 9-6 with a 4.28 ERA in his first 17 starts.

Price is coming off a poor start on Sunday at Yankee Stadium, allowing eight runs and nine hits across 3 1/3 innings.

Before that, Price had been magnificent in his previous nine starts, posting a 7-1 record with a 2.72 ERA. He allowed 17 earned runs in 56 1/3 innings during a span from May 12 through June 26. He allowed no more than three earned runs in any of those starts.

Price is unbeaten in seven career starts and one bullpen appearance against the Royals. He is 4-0 with a 2.13 ERA against Kansas City, giving up 12 earned runs in 50 2/3 innings.

The Red Sox’s dynamic duo of Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez are tough on any pitching staff and that was the case again Friday.

Betts led off the game with a home run, the 100th of his career. He joins Tony Conigliaro, Jim Rice and Ted Williams as the only Red Sox players with 100 home runs before their 26th birthday.

Betts is batting .369 (41-for-111) with nine home runs and 19 RBIs in 26 career games against the Royals. His batting average is the best for any opposing hitter with a minimum of 100 at-bats against Kansas City.

Martinez hit a two-run shot in the second inning and leads the majors with 27 home runs. Only Carl Yastrzemski, 29 in 1969, and David Ortiz, 31 in 2006, had more homers before the All-Star break. Martinez leads the American League with 73 RBIs.

The Royals will send rookie right-hander Brad Keller (2-3, 2.09 ERA) to the mound as they attempt to snap a seven-game losing streak.

Keller Devin Shore Jersey , a Rule Five pick from the Arizona Diamondbacks, threw an eight-inning, complete-game six-hitter at Seattle in his previous start, only to lose 1-0 to the Mariners.

He is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 13 appearances at Kauffman Stadium. He has a 2.25 ERA in three home starts.

Keller made two relief appearances in May at Boston. He got the final two outs of the seventh inning withoutout giving up any runs in a 5-4, 11-inning victory on May 1 and the next day threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

Doug Pederson is one win away from bringing Philadelphia the elusive Super Bowl title his mentor couldn’t deliver.

If the Eagles (15-3) beat New England (15-3) on Sunday, Pederson will hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy and Philadelphia will celebrate its first NFL title since beating Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers in 1960.

No one saw this coming two years ago.

After abruptly firing Chip Kelly, Eagles owner Jeffery Lurie longed for a coach more like the one he used to have: Andy Reid. Even though Reid failed to win the big game during his 14-year tenure in Philadelphia, he won more games than any coach in franchise history and led the Eagles to nine playoff appearances, five NFC title games and a Super Bowl loss to the Patriots.

Reid also had a close relationship with Lurie, was well-liked by the players and instilled a family atmosphere. That culture was an important element for Lurie. The environment had changed under Kelly, who was 26-21 in three seasons. Though he was an innovative coach, Kelly didn’t connect well with all his players and members of the organization.

So Lurie went back to what he knew and hired Pederson, Reid’s protege.

Lurie was quite familiar with Pederson, who was a quarterback for Reid with the Eagles in 1999 and then an assistant coach on his staff in Philadelphia and Kansas City.

Other coaches had more impressive resumes, but Lurie liked Pederson’s intangibles.

”I spent a lot of time with players at the end of that (2015) season and I thought what was really needed was a kind of leadership that leads with a genuineness, a real genuineness Womens Esa Lindell Jersey ,” Lurie said. ”And people laughed when I used the term `emotional intelligence,’ but that’s probably a really good way to describe it.

”There’s a lot of great coaches. They all have their different styles, but the one common ground among them all is absolute consistency and genuineness. And Doug Pederson is just himself. And at times that’s very humble, and at times it’s just very real. At times that’s very bright. At times it’s tough. But he does it in a true, genuine way and I think players really respond to that in today’s world.”

Naturally, Pederson learned from Reid.

”Being around him, he’s the same day in and day out,” Pederson said. ”Same consistency. Same work ethic.”

Like Reid, Pederson had his share of critics. He wasn’t the people’s choice in Philly when he got the job and ESPN ranked him the worst hire of his coaching class at the time. Three of the six other coaches already have been fired.

”I don’t pay any attention to that, quite honestly,” Pederson said. ”I drive home at night knowing I put in a full day’s work. I get up in the morning to come in here, and however I can serve this organization and serve these players, that’s all I know. I love football. I love coaching football. I love teaching it. I love being around these guys, and I’m going to pour my life into these players. If it’s good enough, great, because that’s all I know I can do and I’ve given it my best effort. So I don’t care about what’s written.”

Pederson cares about his players Jamie Benn Jersey , improving their game and making them better men off the field. He gets what they’re going through because he played, although mostly as a backup. They trust in him and his coaching philosophy.

”Coach Pederson is an unbelievable coach to play for,” said Nick Foles, who went from backup quarterback to hero of the NFC championship game. ”He just has such a great feel for the game.”

Pederson’s steady demeanor and positive approach helped the team overcome numerous injuries to key players, including Carson Wentz, Jason Peters and Jordan Hicks.

Seeing their coach never waver gave guys confidence they can beat anyone. It helps that Pederson has devised masterful game plans. He outcoached Mike Zimmer in the NFC championship game as Foles picked apart the top-ranked defense en route to Philadelphia’s 38-7 win over Minnesota .

”I played for some amazing coaches, and Doug is an unbelievable play caller,” Foles said. ”He does a great job of deciding when to call each thing, but our staff is unbelievable at game planning and putting us in position, no matter if it’s the run game, the pass game, the screen game, whatever it may be. The attention to detail is unbelievable and we go into a game feeling 100 percent confident because of our staff and the work and long hours that they put in to get the game plan to us so that we can go out and execute. That’s big for an athlete when you can go out there and trust everything.”

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