Red Sox send Peavy to hill against Royals

Streaking right-hander Jake Peavy makes his second start in a Boston uniform on Friday night when the Red Sox head back to Kauffman Stadium for the second of four games with the Kansas City Royals.

The 32-year-old began the season with the Chicago White Sox and was 8-4 in 13 starts before heading to Boston as part of a three-team deal that also involved the Detroit Tigers.

He was a 5-2 winner in his initial appearance with his new team on Aug. 3, twirling seven innings of two-run ball en route to a 5-2 defeat of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Peavy is 5-7 in 13 career starts against the Royals, the most recent of which came on April 3, when he threw six innings, allowed one earned run and struck out six in a 5-2 victory.

He's just 1-5, however, in six career starts at Kauffman Stadium.

For the Royals, 30-year-old Dominican righty Ervin Santana goes for a fourth consecutive win since mid-July.

The veteran of 255 big-league starts was 5-6 on the season following an 8-4 loss to the New York Yankees on July 11, but he's 3-0 in four starts since while paring his earned run average to 2.97.

In 28 1/3 innings since the loss, Santana has allowed 18 hits, six runs and six walks while striking out 22 batters.

He's 4-3 in 12 career starts against the Red Sox.

On Thursday, Bruce Chen's 7 2/3 shutout innings led the way as the Royals continued a second-half surge with a 5-1 victory over the Red Sox.

Chen (5-0) permitted just five hits and a walk in another masterful performance that enabled the Royals to record their 14th win in 16 games. The journeyman lefty has surrendered a mere four runs over 31 2/3 innings in five starts since rejoining the rotation in mid-July.

Mike Moustakas contributed a pair of hits, including a two-run single, while Billy Butler and Justin Maxwell each clubbed solo homers for Kansas City, now a scorching 16-4 since the All-Star break.

Jon Lester (10-7) overcame a rough beginning to last seven innings for Boston, allowing three runs -- one earned -- on four hits and two walks.

Stephen Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury each had two hits in the loss, only the third in 10 games for the AL East-leading Red Sox, with Drew driving in the club's lone run with a ninth-inning single.

The Red Sox and Royals entered the set all even in their all-time series, having each won 220 games since they began playing on May 27, 1969. Kansas City won twice in a three-game series at Fenway Park in April.