Red Sox continue to struggle on Friday, losing to the Royals in the series opener

Red Sox starting pitcher Cooper Criswell throws during Friday’s game against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

For all their success this season, the Red Sox have consistently failed in two annoying areas: They almost never win on Fridays, and they have lost most of their opening games at Fenway Park.

If recent history is any indication, the Red Sox have the Royals exactly where they want them.

Boston lost the series opener on Friday night to the Kansas City Royals, who, like the Red Sox, have emerged as a surprise playoff contender after falling 56-106 last season. The Royals were in control from the start and cruised to a commanding 6-1 victory thanks to two home runs and another brilliant performance from All-Star left-hander Cole Ragan.

The Royals are currently tied with the Red Sox for the American League’s third wild card spot, and Boston is 4-12 in first-half games at Fenway Park on Fridays and 3-13 in series openers.

Kansas City took the upper hand almost immediately, loading the bases against Red Sox starter Cooper Criswell with three consecutive singles to start the game before catcher Salvador Perez broke the ice with a sacrifice fly. Criswell, who had been promoted from Triple-A several hours before the first pitch, managed to get out of that jam but continued to get into trouble throughout his outing afterward.

The Royals scored three times in the second, including RBI singles by Adam Frazier and Perez and another sacrifice fly by Vinnie Pasquantino, and hit two more solo home runs later in the game, the first coming on a 429-foot home run by Bobby Witt Jr. in the fourth and the second off the bat of MJ Melendez in the seventh.

Despite the early struggles, Criswell managed to at least provide the Red Sox with some good length. He went six innings and allowed five runs (only two earned) on eight hits, two walks and one hit by pitch. He struck out one and threw 104 pitches.

On offense, the Red Sox have adopted a new strategy against the left-handed Ragan after struggling with left-hander JP Sears of the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night. They loaded the lineup with right-handers and moved left-handed hitter Rob Refsnyder to the first batting position.

It did not work.

Ragans made light work of the Red Sox lineup, allowing one run on four hits and having seven strikeouts in seven strong innings. Boston’s only run against the 26-year-old came in the second inning, when Jamie Westbrook and Ceddanne Rafaela gave the left-hander back-to-back doubles.

Rafaela, who finished 2-for-3 with the RBI double, also hit a single against Royals relief pitcher Chris Stratton to spark a comeback in the second half of the eighth inning. But after David Hamilton walked two men to get on base, Stratton struck out three batters in a row to end the inning and Boston was never in danger again.

Nevertheless, Rafaela now has a .252 batting average with 52 RBI this season and a .307 batting average with 17 extra-base hits in 45 games since May 20.

Although the Red Sox have not started well most weekends, they have usually rebounded and finished strong. Boston will look to even the series and regain sole possession of the third Wild Card spot on Saturday, with Kutter Crawford (5-7, 3.24) facing Kansas City’s top prospect Seth Lugo (11-3, 2.21).