Boston, MA – Pedro Ciriaco went 3-for-5 with a homer, two RBI and a pair of runs to lead the Boston Red Sox to an 8-6 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
Dustin Pedroia also homered and Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Aviles each had two hits and drove in a run for the Red Sox, who won for just the second time in seven tries. James Loney added an RBI single in his Boston debut.
Pedro Beato (1-0) got the win despite giving up two runs on three hits in two- plus innings. Beato was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket prior to the game.
Mark Melancon stranded a runner in the ninth to earn his first save of the season.
Lorenzo Cain hit a three-run homer and Tony Abreu had two hits and drove in a pair of runs for the Royals, who have dropped three of their last four.
Will Smith (4-6) gave up five runs -- four earned -- on nine hits and two walks to absorb the loss.
"Kept the ball down, made a couple mistakes and paid for them," Royals manager Ned Yost said of Smith.
Boston got on the board in the first when Cody Ross singled home Ciriaco. Ciriaco singled then moved to third on Pedroia's double to shallow right field.
Boston added one more in the second when Aviles doubled off the Green Monster to score Mauro Gomez.
Kansas City plated four in the fourth. Johnny Giavotella and Eric Hosmer singled with one out. Abreu followed with a base hit to left field to score Giavotella before Cain clobbered a three-run blast over the Green Monster.
Boston was able to get two in the fifth and one in the sixth to take a 5-4 lead.
With one out in the fifth Ciriaco belted a homer to left field. Ellsbury followed with a single, moved to second on Pedroia's groundout before stealing third. After Ross walked, Loney delivered a base hit to push Ellsbury across.
"It was good to see James Loney get his first hit and RBI for us. That was big to tie the game with two outs," Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said.
In the sixth Gomez reached on a fielding error, moved to second on an Aviles single, then scored on Ellsbury's base hit to shallow right field.
Boston pushed two more across in the seventh. With the bases loaded, Scott Podsednik ripped a grounder to short, but Alcides Escobar booted the ball and Ross scored. Ciriaco followed with an infield single to bring home Ryan Lavarnway.
The Royals would counter with a pair of runs in the eighth to make it 7-6. Hosmer lifted a sacrifice fly to right field. Ross lost the ball in the sun but was able to locate it at the last second to make a diving catch. Abreu followed with a base hit up the middle to sore Salvador Perez.
Pedroia's homer in the home half of the eighth capped the scoring.
Game Notes
Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine ejected by first base umpire Dan Bellino in the fifth inning ... Boston has 44 hits in the first three games of this series ... Prior to the game the Red Sox added Loney to the active roster, recalled Beato and optioned outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin to Pawtucket ... The Royals are 16-20 against the AL East this season.
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