Royals' Austin Cox: Serving as opener Thursday

Cox will serve as the Royals' opening pitcher for Thursday's game against the Red Sox, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports.

Nearly a week after earning his first career save, Cox will make his third start of the season Thursday and his first since early July. The 26-year-old lefty had a brief trial in the rotation shortly before the All-Star break, but he was demoted to Triple-A Omaha after he was blasted for three runs on seven hits and two walks over 4.2 innings in a July 3 start versus the Twins. He's been a full-time reliever for Kansas City since being called back up, accruing a 5.14 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over seven appearances while working no more than 1.1 innings on any occasion. With that in mind, Cox is unlikely to work more than once through the Red Sox batting order Thursday, leaving Alec Marsh as the most likely candidate to cover the bulk of the innings out of the bullpen.