Sonny Gray allowed three earned runs over six innings while striking out five, picking up the loss on Friday against the Royals.

Gray allowed a leadoff double to Carter Jensen to start the game, with Jensen coming around to score on a two-out RBI single by Salvador Perez two batters later. Gray would get out of the inning and pitch a scoreless second inning, but gave up two more runs in the third inning on an RBI double by Carter Jensen and an RBI single by Vinnie Pasquantino later in the inning. Gray wouldn’t allow another run the rest of the night, but the damage had been done, and the Red Sox couldn’t muster enough run support to pick up the much-needed win. Gray will hope for better results in his next start, which is scheduled for Thursday on the road against the Rangers.