Sox Summary: Lester leads Sox to split and season series win over Royals

Jon Lester picked up his fifth win and sixth of the season of May on Sunday. (AP)

Mike Lowell sports the "Stars and Stripes" cap in honor of Memorial Day. (Jim Davis/Boston Globe)

Jon Lester was very strong over seven innings as the Red Sox topped the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park on Sunday, 8-1. The win gave the Red Sox their second straight win, a split in the four-game weekend series and a season series victory over Kansas City. With the victory, the Sox have won or split their last five series since May 17.

Brayan Pena gave the Royals a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning on an RBI groundout to shortstop.  

The Red Sox tied the game at 1-1 in the third inning on a sacrifice fly to left field by David Ortiz.

In the fifth inning, Boston added three runs on an RBI groundout by Marco Scutaro and a two-run home run to straight-away center field by David Ortiz (11).

The offense kept going with three more runs in the sixth inning, thanks to a two-run double off the center field wall by Mike Cameron and an RBI hit to right field for Marco Scutaro.

Jason Varitek added a very large cherry on top with a solo shot straight out of Fenway in the bottom of the eighth to close the scoring and make the score 8-1.

Jon Lester was impressive as he allowed just four hits, a run, and four walks over seven innings to win his sixth game and fifth of May. He joins Clay Buchholz as the first pair of Red Sox teammates to record five wins each in a month since Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield did so in August of 2004.

Brad Thompson allowed seven hits and six runs over just 1.2 innings of relief to take the loss for the Royals. Bruce Chen made the start for the Royals, but only lasted four innings, in which he allowed two hits, a run, two walks, and five strikeouts.

The Red Sox will have Memorial Day off and will welcome the West-leading Oakland Athletics to Fenway Park for a three-game series Tuesday-Thursday. John Lackey will face Gio Gonzalez in Tuesday’s opener.

Red Sox Game Notes: Sox look for four-game split against Royals on Sunday afternoon at Fenway

After coming through with a 1-0 shutout win on Saturday night, the Red Sox (28-23) will look to salvage a four-game series split against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday at Fenway Park. The Sox seek to get back on the winning track this afternoon, after dropping two games following a five-game winning streak. It will be a battle of left-handers on the hill as Jon Lester opposes Bruce Chen. Game time is set for 1:35 on NESN and WEEI.

RED SOX
16 Marco Scutaro SS
54 Darnell McDonald LF
34 David Ortiz DH
20 Kevin Youkilis 1B
29 Adrian Beltre 3B
7 J.D. Drew RF
33 Jason Varitek C
22 Bill Hall 2B
23 Mike Cameron CF

31 Jon Lester LHP

ROYALS
8 Willie Bloomquist LF
10 Mike Aviles 2B
9 David DeJesus RF
16 Billy Butler 1B
6 Jose Guillen DH
13 Alberto Callaspo 3B
27 Brayan Pena C
3 Yuniesky Betancourt SS
12 Mitch Maier CF

52 Bruce Chen LHP

Series Stuff: The Red Sox lost two of the first three games of this series and have won three of the six games against the Royals this season. Boston has won or split the last five series against the Royals and have won seven of the last 10 meetings. Today’s winner will take the season series between the teams as this is the final meeting of 2010. A win would give the Red Sox their third consecutive season series victory.

For the Record: Boston is 28-23, 4th in the American League East and 6.5 games behind the first-place Rays. However, the Sox stand just a game behind third-place Toronto and two games behind second-place New York. The Sox are winners of eight of the last 11 games and have won 17 of their last 26 games since May 3, the best record in the American League in that span.

Home Cooking: With the win last night, the Red Sox have now won 14 of the last 21 games at Fenway Park since April 20, heading into the final game of the series and the second leg of the homestand against Oakland.

Grand Central: The Red Sox are 7-7 against American League Central opponents in 2010, but have the best record against Central clubs since 2007 at 79-42 (.653).

Change of Pace: Including this series, three of the next four opponents from May 27-June 10 (KC, OAK, BAL, CLE) have a .500 record or worse, with Oakland being the exception (.540). Those teams combine for an 81-116 (.411) so far this season. On Wednesday, the Red Sox concluded a stretch in which each of their last seven opponents had at least a .500 record. In that 19-game stretch that went from May 7-26, the Sox went 12-7.

PITCHING MATCHUP	RED SOX: JON LESTER	ROYALS: BRUCE CHEN
2010 Season	5-2, 3.15 ERA in 10 starts	1-0-1 save, 2.89 ERA in 10 appearances/0 starts this season
Last Start/Appearance	Win on 5/25 at TB (6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 9 K)	ND in relief on 5/23 vs. COL (1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K)
Career vs. Opponent	3-1, 1.20 ERA in 4 starts	3-5, 4.84 ERA in 14 appearances
2010 vs. Opponent	First appearance (Win on July 10, 2009)	First appearance (Loss on July 12, 2009)

Sox Summary: Sox provide little offense in Saturday shutout of Royals

The Red Sox were able to top the Royals in the third game of the weekend series, 1-0. (Michael Dwyer/AP)

It was an old fashioned pitcher’s duel on Saturday night at Fenway Park as fans were treated to a big-time matchup between Clay Buchholz and reigning Cy Young Award winner Zach Greinke. Buchholz won, 1-0, to claim his third straight win and seventh of the season. This was the Red Sox’ first 1-0 win since defeating these same Royals on July 10, 2009 at Fenway and is their first home shutout of the season.

The lone run of the game came in the second inning on an RBI groundout to second base by Mike Lowell to score Adrian Beltre.

Kansas City had numerous opportunities to score late in the game. Their best chance came in the eighth inning with a runner on third base, when Dustin Pedroia made a great diving stop of a sure base hit and RBI for David DeJesus.

Clay Buchholz allowed just four hits and four walks, while fanning four over seven innings to earn the win, while Jonathan Papelbon notched his 12th save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Zach Greinke was the tough-luck loser as he allowed just one run on five hits over six innings, but he fell to 1-6 on the season. With six, Greinke is now tied for the most losses in the American League with Cleveland’s David Huff and the Angels’ Joe Saunders.

The Red Sox will look to salvage a series split against the Royals on Sunday afternoon as Jon Lester and Bruce Chen go up in a battle of lefties on the mound.

Red Sox Game Notes: Sox look for Buchholz to come through Saturday against Royals

The Red Sox (27-23) will look to Clay Buchholz to play stopper on Saturday night in the third of a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals (21-28) on Saturday night, after 4-3 and 12-5 losses in the opening games of the set. Tonight’s game features an elite pitching matchup as Buchholz tussles with 2009 Cy Young Award winner Zach Greinke. Game time is set for 7:10 on NESN and WEEI.

RED SOX
16 Marco Scutaro SS
15 Dustin Pedroia 2B
34 David Ortiz DH
41 Victor Martinez C
29 Adrian Beltre 3B
7 J.D. Drew RF
25 Mike Lowell 1B
32 Jeremy Hermida LF
23 Mike Cameron CF

11 Clay Buchholz RHP

ROYALS
22 Scott Podsednik LF
30 Mike Aviles 2B
9 David DeJesus RF
16 Billy Butler 1B
6 Jose Guillen DH
13 Alberto Callaspo 3B
12 Mitch Maier CF
3 Yuniesky Betancourt SS
18 Jason Kendall C

23 Zack Greinke RHP

Series Stuff: The Red Sox lost the first two games of this series and trail 3-2 in the season series. The Sox won the last two games of a three-game series from April 9-11 at Kaufmann Stadium, after dropping the opener. Boston has won or split the last five series against the Royals and have won seven of the last 10 meetings.

Grand Central: The Red Sox are 6-7 against American League Central opponents in 2010, but have the second-best record against Central clubs since 2007 at 78-42 (.650).

For the Record: The Sox are winners of seven of the last 10 games and have won 15 of their last 22 games since May 3.

Change of Pace: On Wednesday, the Red Sox concluded a stretch in which each of their last seven opponents had at least a .500 record. In that 19-game stretch that went from May 7-26, the Sox went 12-7. Including this series, three of the next four opponents from May 27-June 10 (KC, BAL, CLE) have a .500 record or worse. Those teams combine for a 79-114 (.409) so far this season

Sox Summary: Sox fall apart in game two against Royals

Tim Wakefield exited after 3.2 innings as he allowed nine runs and 12 hits. (Michael Dwyer/AP)

The Red Sox were off to a strong start in the early innings, but could not hold on as they fell to the Kansas City Royals, 12-5, on Saturday at Fenway Park for their second loss in a row against the Royals. Tim Wakefield allowed 12 hits and nine runs over just 3.2 innings to take his third loss of the season. The Royals banged out a season-high 20 hits, their most since slugging 18 against Colorado on Sunday.

Boston got on the board early with three runs in the first inning on an RBI single to left by David Ortiz and a two-run double by Victor Martinez that rolled back towards the triangle in right-center field.

The Royals came back in the top of the third inning with two runs on an RBI double to left-center field by David DeJesus and an RBI base hit by Mitch Maier that salied right through the middle infield and into center. Victor Martinez increased the Red Sox lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the third with a two-run home run into the Boston bullpen by Victor Martinez (7).

Kansas City exploded for seven runs in the fourth inning, their highest total in one frame this season. The first two runs came on RBI singles by Mike Aviles (to left field) and David DeJesus (to right field), then Aviles scored on a wild pitch. The big blow was a grand slam by Yuniesky Betancourt into the first row of Monster Seats in left field (4) that gave the Royals a 9-5 lead.

In the top of the seventh, Billy Butler made it 10-5 on a bases-loaded walk and in the eighth, Mitch Maier made it 12-5 with a two-run home run into the Red Sox bullpen (1).

After the game was out of reach, the Red Sox called upon an unexpected reliever to close out the ninth inning: Bill Hall. Hall was able to get three ground ball outs in his first career pitching appearance and first by a Red Sox position player since Jonathan Van Every on May 8 against the Yankees. He and Joe Nelson (0.2 IP) were the only relievers to allow no hits in their outing.

Tim Wakefield was the Red Sox’ losing pitcher, while Kyle Davies was the winner for the Royals. Davies allowed seven hits and five runs over five innings to earn his fourth win of the season.

The Red Sox will look to Clay Buchholz to play stopper as the Sox face reigning Cy Young Award winner Zach Greinke and the Royals in game three of a four-game series on Saturday night at Fenway Park.

Red Sox Game Notes: Sox look to bounce back against Royals on Friday night at Fenway

After a series-opening loss on Thursday, the Red Sox (27-22) and Kansas City Royals (20-28) continue their four-game holiday weekend series at Fenway Park on Friday night. The loss on Thursday night snapped a five-game winning streak for the Sox and marked their first defeat against the Royals since April 9 in Kauffman Stadium. Tim Wakefield will make the start for the Sox against Kyle Davies.

RED SOX
16 Marco Scutaro SS
15 Dustin Pedroia 2B
34 David Ortiz DH
20 Kevin Youkilis 1B
41 Victor Martinez C
7 J.D. Drew RF
29 Adrian Beltre 3B
32 Jeremy Hermida LF
23 Mike Cameron CF

49 Tim Wakefield RHP

ROYALS
22 Scott Podsednik LF
30 Mike Aviles 2B
9 David DeJesus RF
16 Billy Butler 1B
6 Jose Guillen DH
13 Alberto Callaspo 3B
12 Mitch Maier CF
3 Yuniesky Betancourt SS
18 Jason Kendall C

34 Kyle Davies RHP

Roster Move: Outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury was placed back on the 15-day disabled list with a re-diagnosis of four cracked ribs. He had returned to the Red Sox lineup last Saturday night after rehabbing in Portland and Pawtucket. Right-handed pitcher Scott Atchison was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket to fill his roster spot.

Series Stuff: The Red Sox lost the series opener, 4-3, on Friday night to fall to 2-2 in the season series. The Sox won the last two games of a three-game series from April 9-11 at Kaufmann Stadium, after dropping the opener. Boston has won or split the last five series against the Royals and have won seven of the last nine games.

Royal Performance: Dustin Pedroia is hitting .406 (41-for-101) in 27 games against the Royals in his career, his best mark against any American League opponent. He has hit 5-for-16 against them this season.

For the Record: The Sox are winners of seven of the last nine games and have won 15 of their last 22 games since May 3.

A Chance for 50/50: Tonight’s game marks the 50th of the 2010 season for the Red Sox. A win would put the Sox at 28-22, the exact same record last season through 50 games. The last time the Red Sox had a worse record was in 2005, a 27-23 start.

Change of Pace: The Red Sox concluded a stretch in which each of their last seven opponents had at least a .500 record. In that 19-game stretch that went from May 7-26, the Sox went 12-7. Including this series, three of the next four opponents from May 27-June 10 (KC, BAL, CLE) have a .500 record or worse. Those teams combine for a 77-112 (.407) so far this season.

PITCHING MATCHUP	RED SOX: TIM WAKEFIELD	ROYALS: KYLE DAVIES
2010 Season	1-2, 4.44 ERA in 10 app./6 starts	3-3, 4.53 ERA in 9 starts
Last Start	Win on 5/23 at PHI (8 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K)	Loss on 5/22 vs. COL (6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K)
Career vs. Opponent	11-6-1 save, 3.84 ERA in 27 app./20 starts	1-0, 2.45 ERA in 2 starts
2010 vs. Opponent	0-0, 2.57 ERA in 1 start (ND on April 9)	0-0, 4.50 ERA in 1 start (ND on April 9)

Sox Summary: Dice-K walks into trouble as Sox fall to Royals in series opener at Fenway

The Royals were able to muster enough runs on just four hits to beat the Red Sox in the first game of a three-game series at Fenway Park. (Charles Krupa/AP)

Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed two hits and three runs, while walking eight in a 4-3 Red Sox loss against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park Thursday night. His eight walks allowed tied a career-worst, set back on May 5, 2008 at Detroit. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak, but the Sox have still won eight of the last ten games.

It took until the fourth inning to get either side on the board as Adrian Beltre singled home the first run on a ground ball through the infield.

The Royals took a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning as David DeJesus singled to left field, Jose Guillen walked with the bases loaded and Billy Butler scored on a wild pitch, before Mitch Maier walked.

Bill Hall got one back for the Red Sox in the bottom of the inning as he hit a solo home run into the first section of Monster Seats in left field (4).

In the sixth, David DeJesus drove in another run with an RBI double that was misplayed off the Green Monster by left fielder Jeremy Hermida. Jason Varitek came back with an RBI double over the head of left fielder Scott Podsednik in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 3-2, which would remain the score until the end.

Daisuke Matsuzaka was unable to control his wildness in this one as took his second loss of the season, breaking a streak of three wins in his last three decisions. Brian Bannister was efficient for the Royals en route to his fourth win of the season as he allowed nine hits and three runs over six innings. Joakim Soria picked up his 12th save with a perfect ninth.

The Red Sox will look to tie the series with Kansas City at Fenway as Tim Wakefield takes the ball on Friday night against Kyle Davies.

Red Sox Game Notes: After sweep of Rays, Sox look to give the Royal treatment

The Red Sox (27-21) will look to build off the momentum of a three-game sweep at Tampa Bay as the Kansas City Royals (19-28) invade Fenway Park for a four-game holiday weekend series. This series will mark the first half of a seven-game homestand in eight days as Oakland comes in for a three-game series next Tuesday-Thursday. Daisuke Matsuzaka will make the start for the Red Sox, opposing Brian Bannister. Game time is 7:10 on NESN and WEEI.

RED SOX
16 Marco Scutaro SS
15 Dustin Pedroia 2B
34 David Ortiz DH
20 Kevin Youkilis 1B
7 J.D. Drew RF
29 Adrian Beltre 3B
32 Jeremy Hermida LF
33 Jason Varitek C
23 Bill Hall CF

18 Daisuke Matsuzaka RHP

ROYALS
22 Scott Podsednik LF
30 Mike Aviles SS
9 David DeJesus RF
16 Billy Butler 1B
6 Jose Guillen DH
13 Alberto Callaspo 3B
12 Mitch Maier CF
18 Jason Kendall C
17 Chris Getz 2B

19 Brian Bannister RHP

Series Stuff: The Red Sox won the last two games of a three-game series from April 9-11 at Kaufmann Stadium, after dropping the opener. Boston has won or split the last five series against the Royals and have won seven of the last eight games.

Roster Move: Scott Atchison cleared waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Pawtucket, after being designated for assignment Tuesday.

For the Record: The Sox are winners of seven of the last eight games and have won 15 of their last 21 games since May 3.

Road Warriors: 18 of the next 27 games from May 14 to June 10 will be played on the road as the Sox have played just 23 road games so far this season. On their last roadtrip to Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, the Sox went 5-1 and have dropped seven of the last 14 games away from Fenway Park. Overall, the Sox are 13-10 this season in road games.

Change of Pace: The Red Sox concluded a stretch in which each of their last seven opponents had at least a .500 record. In that 19-game stretch that went from May 7-26, the Sox went 12-7. Including this series, three of the next four opponents have a .500 record or less, adding up to a 75-111 (.403) record.

PITCHING MATCHUP	RED SOX: DAISUKE MATSUZAKA	ROYALS: BRIAN BANNISTER
2010 Season	3-1, 5.76 ERA in 5 starts	3-3, 4.73 ERA in 9 starts
Last Start	Win on 5/22 at PHI (8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K)	Win on 5/21 vs. COL (7.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 K)
Career vs. Opponent	2-0, 2.84 ERA in 2 starts	0-4, 5.87 ERA in 4 starts
2010 vs. Opponent	Last faced the Royals in 2008 (Win on May 22)	Last faced the Red Sox in 2007 (Loss on July 16)

Sox Notes: Ellsbury is O.K.

Jacoby Ellsbury suffered a collision in foul ground over a foul ball. (AP)

Jacoby Ellsbury has a rib contusion after he collided with Adrian Beltre going after a foul in the ninth inning of Sunday’s game in Kansas City. Fortunately for the new Red Sox left fielder, X-rays showed up negative.

He later said that he feels sore, but initially feared he had broken ribs.

Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reported that it could be a few days before he returns to the field, but there is no timetable.

Sox Summary: More offense adds to Sox series win in KC

Clay Buchholz battled through five innings to pick up his first win of the season. (AP)

The Red Sox battled their way to a win in Kansas City on Sunday afternoon, but Clay Buchholz did just enough to lead the Sox to an 8-6 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

Buchholz picked up the decision, going five innings of seven-hit and two-run baseball, while walking two and fanning one. Manny Delcarmen came in for two innings of perfect relief, followed by Ramon Ramirez, who failed to record an out, yielding three hits and three runs. Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon each hurled perfect innings to close the game, with Papelbon recording his second save.

To lead the offense, Dustin Pedroia had a 4-for-5 day, including a home run. Adrian Beltre also had a good day at the dish, posting three hits. Three Royals each recorded a pair of hits, but it wasn’t enough as the Red Sox evened their record to 3-3.

Gil Meche struggled through 3.1 innings, allowing eight hits and seven runs, while walking three. He took the loss in his first start of the season.

The Red Sox will continue their roadtrip on Monday afternoon as the Red Sox open a three-game series against Minnesota. The game, which begins at 4:10 p.m., will be the first regular season contest at the new Target Field. Jon Lester will face old friend Carl Pavano.