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Bay stars again, Red Sox down Royals

Aug 6, 2008 - 5:30 AM By Marc Bowman PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Josh Beckett pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and Jason Bay had four hits to boost the Boston Red Sox to an 8-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.

Beckett snapped a personal three-game losing streak as the Red Sox (65-49) remained three games back of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. The Rays (67-45) were 8-4 winners over the Cleveland Indians.

Beckett (10-8) remained unbeaten in five career starts against the Royals, striking out seven while allowing two runs on four hits and two walks.

"I know his record doesn't show it, but Josh has been very impressive," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "He's been dominant all year. From early on tonight he established his fastball and his breaking ball. When you have two really good pitches you can do a lot."

The 28-year-old righthander allowed just one hit after Alex Gordon's leadoff single in the second, retiring 16-of-17 batters from the second to seventh innings.

"I was getting outs on fastballs and outs on curveballs," Beckett said. "Anytime you have two pitches you can throw for strikes it's tough for the hitters, especially the 'see the ball, hit the ball' kind of guys. They have to be guessing, Is it a ball or is it a strike? I was able to throw the pitch I wanted to, where I wanted to."

Bay doubled in Mike Lowell, giving Boston a 2-1 advantage in the fourth. Bay tied a career best with four hits and has hit safely in all five games since joining the Red Sox via a trade-deadline deal July 31.

"It felt pretty good," Bay said. "We got out and got a win. Personally, I hope to ride this wave and help us win some more. Everyone here has been very welcoming. The hits help, of course. Two, three, four games doesn't make a season, but it's a good start."

"We don't really know him yet, but we are getting to know him a little bit," Francona said. "He's got great bat speed and is a tremendous player."

Dustin Pedroia's fifth-inning single added another run, driving Kansas City starter Brian Bannister from the game. Pedroia has a 26-game road hitting streak, the longest in the majors since Ichiro Suzuki's 28-game streak last year and the longest by a Red Sox since Tris Speaker hit in 29 straight road games in 1913.

The second of Jacoby Ellsbury's two singles drove in Bay in the sixth as Boston built a 5-1 lead. Ellsbury also singled and scored in the fifth and added a pair of stolen bases, giving him a league-best 37.

"He was hitting the ball where he can use his legs and did a good job," Francona said. "It's like hitters when they take a bit of a fall and then get back, you feel good about yourself. What he hasn't done is gotten frustrated and run into more outs. He's been an intelligent baserunner."

The Red Sox put the game on ice with three runs in the seven, highlighted by Bay's second RBI double, which was initially gloved - but not held - by center fielder Mitch Maier and then rolled along the left field fence before Ross Gload leaped to swipe the ball off the top of fence.

"How many times do you see a ball like that?" Francona asked. "I'm glad he didn't catch it. Gload made a great play. If that ball rolls out it's a homer."

"I've never seen that," Royals interim manager Dave Owen said. "I think it was tremendous on Ross' part to watch the play and then be aware enough to go up there and knock the ball back in. Mitch made a tremendous effort and almost caught the ball. He told me when he came in he should have had it. Just the effort he gave was outstanding."

Bannister (7-10) suffered his fourth straight defeat, lasting four innings while allowing three runs on six hits and two walks and striking out three.

"Banny was very sharp in warmups," Owen said. "It looked like he was starting out good and started missing with his pitches. The command's not what he wanted."

The 27-year-old righthander has not won since June 23.

"I really just tried to keep the ball down," Bannister said. "The one pitch I got smoked on was Bay's and he hit a changeup. That was a frustrating one. For the most part, I kept the ball down and tried to get them to hit the ball on the ground. They got a lot of singles. The first inning, Big Papi (David Ortiz) hit a ball, we had the shift on, and he hit it between two guys, and then Kevin Youkilis broke his bat - the bat flew right at me, and I had to pause and get to the bag in time. That's kind of the way my luck's been going lately. I just tried to limit the damage and keep us close."

The Royals tied the game, 1-1, when J.D. Drew misplayed Mark Teahen's double, allowing Mike Aviles to score their first-inning tally.

Kansas City manager Trey Hillman missed the game, sitting out a one-game suspension as a result of Sunday's bench-clearing brawl with the White Sox.