Recap: Kansas City vs. Boston

By Sports Network

Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) - Jason Bay finished 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored as Boston crushed Kansas City, 8-2, in the middle contest of a three-game set from Kauffman Stadium.

Jed Lowrie also knocked in two runs for the Red Sox, who have won four of five. Jacoby Ellsbury added two hits and an RBI, while David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia drove in a run each.

Josh Beckett (10-8) went 6 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and two runs. He fanned seven with two walks to earn his first win in four starts.

Mark Teahen and Mitch Maier drove in the runs for the Royals, whose three-game win streak was halted.

Kansas City starter Brian Bannister (7-10) took the loss, charged with six hits and three runs in four-plus innings.

A four-run lead turned quickly into a seven-run edge for the Red Sox in the seventh.

Kevin Youkilis doubled with one out and Mike Lowell reached on an Alex Gordon fielding error. Bay doubled to bring in a run, then Lowrie's triple plated two.

Gordon doubled with one out in the home seventh and later scored on Maier's bloop single to left off Mike Timlin for an 8-2 game. Timlin settled down and recorded a scoreless eighth, then Chris Smith retired the side in order in the ninth to lock up the win.

The Sox picked up a run in the first. J.D. Drew doubled with one out, and when Pedroia grounded to the mound, he was tagged out in a lengthy rundown between second and third. The fracas allowed Pedroia to reach second, and he scored when Ortiz followed with a base hit to center.

KC responded in its turn as Mike Aviles led off with a single and scored on a Teahen double.

However, Boston regrouped and went up by a run in the fourth as Lowell was hit by a pitch and Bay doubled him in.

It was 3-1 for the Red Sox on Pedroia's run-scoring base hit in the fifth, and the Boston lead grew to four in the sixth on a single from Ellsbury and Gordon's fielding error on a grounder by Pedroia which allowed Jason Varitek to score.