Mondesi (side discomfort) exits strong finale

During the Royals' offensive outburst against the Red Sox in a 7-3 win on Sunday afternoon, Adalberto Mondesi was removed at the start of the top of the seventh inning with discomfort in his side.

"He felt a little something. We're still getting some more information on it," manager Mike Matheny said. "So, we had to get him out of the game at that point, but we're going to continue to watch it and see what the trainers say."

The Royals have emphasized they want to be cautious with Mondesi following his second stint on the injured list. He was placed on the 10-day IL in early June with a left hamstring strain and was activated on Tuesday. He opened the season on the IL with a right oblique strain sustained in the club's final Spring Training game.

In three games since his return from the latest IL stint, Mondesi has four hits in 11 at-bats. He was a difference-maker in each game, whether it was scoring the first run or providing jaw-dropping power.

During the series opener against the Red Sox on Thursday, Mondesi was a one-man show. He crushed a 464-foot, three-run homer to put the Royals ahead in the third inning. It was the longest home run in Mondesi's career and the fourth-longest by a Royals hitter since Statcast was introduced in 2015.

Mondesi made his return to the lineup on Sunday after a scheduled off-day and went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. He also flashed his defensive skills in the third with a running grab of Xander Bogaerts' slow grounder up the middle of the infield and fired it to Hunter Dozier for the out at first.

In 10 games this season, the shortstop is hitting .316 with four home runs.