Kansas City Royals (42-61) @ Boston Red Sox (64-38)
Luke Hochevar(6-8, 5.29) @ Josh Beckett 9-3, 2.07)
1:35PM EDT | Fenway Park (Boston, MA)
TV: NESN RADIO: WEEI 850, WWZN 1510

GAME NOTES
July is nearly coming to a close and it has been a good month for the Red Sox .  They have gone 18-4 and are averaging 6.91 runs per game in this month.  It has also been a amazing month for Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia.  Ellsbury is hitting .413/.461/.793 in July and Pedroia .423/.477/.753.  As a team the Red Sox are hitting .306/.383/.584.    In contrast,  opposing batters are hitting .264/.332/.401 off Red Sox pitchers this month and opposing team are averaging 4.45 runs per game off the Red Sox.  The Red Sox strong July hitting has the potential to continue this afternoon against Luke Hochevar.  The Red Sox have a combined 72 plate appearances against Hochevar and are hitting .381/.458/.730.

INJURY REPORT
Kansas City: NONE
Boston: Clay Buchholz, lower back strain (Placed on 15-day DL June 19, retroactive to June 17); J.D. Drew, left shoulder impingement (Placed on 15-day DL 7/26); Bobby Jenks, strained back (Placed on 15-day DL 7/16); Jed Lowrie, right shoulder injury (Placed on 15-day DL on June 17); Kevin Youkilis, tight right hamstring (day-to-day)

PLAYER OF THE DAY
Last night, with his grand slam David Ortiz reached 1,000 RBI in his Red Sox career.  Infielder Ted Lepcio was exaclty 800 RBIs short of that milestone as he finished with 200 in his Red Sox career.  Lepcio began his career with the Red Sox in 1952 and remained in Boston until 1959.  He hit .247/.322/.403 in 1,822 plate appearances for the Red Sox.  Lepcio was a versatile player, appearing at second base, shortstop, and third base over his career.  Following the Red Sox, he went on the play for the Tigers, Phillies, White Sox and Twins, completing his major league career in 1961 with a total of 251 RBIs.

Line-ups should be posted in the comments when they are available, feel free to add them if they aren’t there.