BOSTON — Instant reactions as the Red Sox (64-51) win their seventh straight, beating the Royals, 6-2, behind a strong outing from ace Garrett Crochet and timely hitting with two outs:

1) A nine-day layoff between starts didn’t stop Crochet from looking like himself. He sliced and diced through the Royals lineup early and ran into little trouble as he got through seven innings.

The damage off Crochet came in the form of an eight-foot chopper off the bat of Maikel Garcia that went for an RBI double and a shaky seventh that saw him walk Garcia, then allow an RBI double to Randal Grichuk (on a near-catch by Jarren Duran). But Crochet bounced back to finish his outing strong by recording back-to-back strikeouts (his seventh and eighth) to strand the would-be tying run at second base.

In all, Crochet was tagged with two runs on four hits. He struck out eight and walked a single batter. His 10th start of seven or more innings leads the majors.

2) In both the sixth and seventh innings, the first two Red Sox batters were retired. That’s when the fun started for Boston.

The offense scored twice thanks to four straight baserunners in the sixth, then three more times to extend the lead in the seventh. Wilyer Abreu and Trevor Story had the big hits in both frames.

3) Righty Ryan Bergert, in his Royals debut, did a nice job against a Sox lineup that didn’t have Roman Anthony or Ceddanne Rafaela. Bergert was an out away from getting through six innings in a tie game but a two-out walk to Alex Bregman set up the first Sox rally.

Abreu won a left-on-left battle to lace an opposite-field double off Angel Zerpa, then Trevor Story got enough bat on the ball to drive in both Bregman and Abreu and put the Sox up, 3-1.

Old friend John Schreiber allowed a similar avalanche in the seventh. David Hamilton walked, then Duran singled and Bregman walked before Abreu once again delivered a big hit, finding an uncovered area in shallow right field as his two-run single fell in. Story added his third RBI of the game with a hard-hit single that made it 6-2.

4) That Abreu single was a very catchable ball hit high in the air at 71.5 mph off the bat. But Jonathan India and Grichuk got crossed up on a ball that usually belongs to the right fielder and it fell in. When it’s going your way, it’s going your way. It sure is for the Red Sox right now.

5) Some context on the Sox’ recent prolonged surge: They’re 35-17 in their last 52 games, including 22-7 since July 1. They are 16-2 in their last 18 home games and 39-21 overall at Fenway. If the Blue Jays lose later, the Sox will be within two games of first place in the American League East.

6) The Sox flashed some leather in the fifth inning. First was a nice play by David Hamilton, who ranged in the second base hole to corral a sharply hit Grichuk grounder and throw to first. One batter later, Nick Loftin ripped a Crochet cutter down the right field line but Abreu showed why he’s a Gold Glover with a tremendous running catch that saw him crash into the short wall near Pesky’s Pole.

7) Bregman couldn’t corral a Jonathan India grounder with one out in the eighth and was charged with an error. It was his first error since April 20. The 2024 Gold Glover had five miscues in Boston’s first 23 games and none until Tuesday.

8) The Red Sox were able to stay away from their high-leverage relievers, which was surely welcomed. With a four-run lead, it was Greg Weissert and Jordan Hicks in relief of Crochet. Steven Matz, Justin Wilson, Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman had the night off.

9) Right-hander Dustin May (6-7, 4.85 ERA), six days after coming over from the Dodgers in a deadline trade, will make his Red Sox debut in Wednesday night’s series finale. The Royals will send former Sox starter Michael Wacha (5-9, 3.38 ERA). First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. ET.

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