BOSTON -- After starting their six-game road trip 0-3 against the Twins, the Royals found themselves on the cusp of a series win in a three-game set against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. 

In the sixth inning of Friday night’s series opener, Kansas City took its first lead of the road trip on a Salvador Perez RBI single. The Royals held onto a 1-0 lead until giving up the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the eighth.

The next day, the offense bounced back with nine runs in a shutout win to even the series. But in Sunday afternoon’s rubber match, the Royals lost 13-3 to finish an inconsistent series in Boston.

With an off-day standing between this road trip and their final homestand of the season (three games against each of the Twins and Mariners), here are three takeaways from the Royals’ weekend series vs. the Red Sox:

Up-and-down starts
Despite the Royals’ loss, Jonathan Heasley turned in the best start of his young career on Friday. Heasley pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts, and in the fifth inning, he escaped a bases-loaded jam that warranted an audible fist pump as he walked off the mound.

Brady Singer followed Heasley’s strong outing with six scoreless innings on Saturday, marking his sixth start of the season in which he recorded at least six scoreless frames. That trails only the Astros’ Justin Verlander and the Angels' Shohei Ohtani, who each have seven such starts. Prior to Friday, the Royals had gone 89 consecutive games at Fenway without a starting pitcher recording six scoreless innings.

The streak of strong outings from Royals starters was snapped on Sunday, as Kris Bubic labored through just 2 2/3 innings. Bubic gave up five runs on seven hits, allowing one sacrifice bunt and three sacrifice flies, including back-to-back sac flies in the third.

After leaning on his curveball (30 pitches) more than his fastball (29) in his last outing vs. Minnesota, Bubic again favored his fastball on Sunday. He threw it for 33 of his 65 pitches, generating 20 swings and four whiffs.

Rookies leading the charge 
The Royals went with a rookie-heavy lineup on Sunday, as every starter except Salvador Perez and Edward Olivares was a rookie. Vinnie Pasquantino opened the scoring with an RBI double in the first off Nick Pivetta, and Drew Waters added another run with his own RBI double in the second.

On Saturday, MJ Melendez scored four of the Royals’ nine runs to become the first catcher in team history to score four runs in a game. In the series opener, Melendez scored Kansas City’s lone run.

Despite the series loss, the rookie-heavy lineups provided glimpses of the Royals’ future, with encouraging signs from all of their young players. The rookies showed plate discipline on Sunday, with Kyle Isbel, Melendez and Pasquantino each drawing one walk and Nate Eaton walking twice. Pasquantino saw six pitches in an at-bat against reliever John Schreiber, swinging at just one pitch before taking his base.

Even when they didn’t connect for hits, Royals rookies recorded a number of hard-hit balls across the series. On Friday, Melendez had a 96.3 mph flyout and 100.1 mph and 102.7 mph groundouts. Pasquantino grounded into a double play with a 109.9 mph screamer. On Saturday, Witt Jr. had two hard-hit groundouts (96.1 mph and 99.5).

“That’s what we’re always looking at, those good at-bats, the hard contact, the situational hitting,” manager Mike Matheny said. “We're seeing guys taking some good at-bats, fighting through some counts. Seeing everything that we want to see from all of them. … Overall, they're putting together good at-bats and those are gonna pay off in the long run.”

‘Leading by example’ 
With so many young hitters in the clubhouse, a team needs a veteran to lead. The Royals have their leader in Salvador Perez. The 32-year-old vet hit his second homer of the road trip on Sunday, his team-leading 22nd of the season.

In his last 22 games, Perez is batting .353 (30-for-85) with nine runs, two doubles, five homers and 17 RBIs. Perez has given the Royals’ lineup dependability, hitting safely in 19 of 22 games since Aug. 22.

“He's the heart and soul of our club,” Matheny said. “He leads by example, he leads in the clubhouse. He's helping these guys understand what it looks like to be a championship caliber player. … He's just a special player.”