Porcello, Travis shine as Red Sox end 8-game skid with Royals rout

BOSTON: Rick Porcello pitched six innings of one-run ball, Sam Travis hit a two-run homer and the Red Sox their eight-game losing streak with a 7-5 victory over the struggling Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

“That’s kind of where we need to be in general,” Porcello said. “Some pressure when you start losing, especially with the talented team we have. That’s kind of how we need to be every day, kind of relaxed and focus on the task in hand.” Rafael Devers added a solo shot for the Red Sox. Travis’ gave Boston a homer in a club-record 18 straight games in Fenway Park. The old mark was set in 1969.

Bubba Starling, Meibrys Viloria and Cheslor Cuthbert each went deep for Kansas City, with Viloria’s his first homer in the majors and Starling’s a three-run shot.

It was the seventh straight loss for the Royals, who had a 10-game skid in the season’s first two weeks.

Porcello (10-8), who smashed a pair of TV monitors in the Fenway dugout in frustration in his last start, gave up four hits, walked two and struck out five. The only thing he broke this time was the defending World Series champions’ losing streak. It was their first win since beating the rival Yankees at home on July 27 and moved them 5 ½ games behind Tampa Bay for the AL’S second wild-card spot.

The longest skid for a defending champ is 11 games, done by both the 1998 then-florida Marlins (twice) and the 1986 Royals.

Boston’s starters had a 10.95 ERA over the eight-game skid.

Brandon Workman got the final three outs for his sixth save.

Making his fourth start since being acquired from the Chicago Cubs in July, Mike Montgomery (1-5) gave up four runs - two earned - over five innings and fell to 0-3 since joining the Royals.

Mookie Bets opened the third inning with a walk and Devers singled. Shortstop Nick Lopez booted Xander Bogaerts’ grounder, with Bets scoring from third.