BOSTON — Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordon homered, and Ian Kennedy allowed one run through five innings as the Kansas City Royals continued their monthlong hot streak with a 6-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
Kansas City has won 11 of its last 12 games and is 18-6 in August.
Kennedy (9-9) had a chance set a club record by allowing one or fewer runs in six straight outings of at least six innings. But he left with a runner on after 5 1/3 innings and wound up charged for two earned runs in the game. He finished with nine strikeouts.
Kelvin Herrera earned his 10th save.
Lorenzo Cain added a solo homer in the eighth inning.
Steven Wright (13-6) took the loss in his first game back off the disabled list with a right shoulder strain, giving up five runs and seven hits.
Wright lost despite going at least six innings for the 10th time in 15 starts. Before Friday he had not allowed more than one home run in any of his previous 26 starts, which was the fourth-longest active streak in the majors.
It also had been the longest by a Red Sox pitcher since Pedro Martinez did it over 44 starts.
Mookie Betts had five hits and two RBIs for the Red Sox.
The Royals jumped on Wright at the outset, taking a 5-0 lead in the first inning on a three-run shot by Hosmer, followed quickly by a tworun blast by Gordon.
Boston had three hits and got one run back in its half of first. It had a chance to add more after loading the bases with one out, but the potential rally stalled when Sandy Leon and Jackie Bradley, Jr. both struck out.
YANKEES 14, ORIOLES 4 Rookie Gary Sanchez homered for the eighth time in nine games and drove in four runs as the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 14-4 Friday night in the opener of their weekend series. Mark Teixeira and Chase Headley also went deep for the surging Yankees, who moved five games over .500 for the first time this season. Sanchez, who had three hits, had a two-out single in the bottom of the first. Teixeira followed with a towering shot into the right-field bleachers off Yovani Gallardo to give New York a 2-1 lead.
BLUE JAYS 15, TWINS 8 Russell Martin and Justin Smoak each homered and drove in five runs as the Toronto Blue Jays hammered Minnesota 15-8 Friday night, handing the Twins their eighth straight loss. Josh Donaldson, who drove in three runs, and Darwin Barney, who had three hits, also each homered. Francisco Liriano posted his first win with the Blue Jays as they took a one-game lead in the AL East over Boston.
TIGERS 4, ANGELS 2 The Detroit Tigers served trout in the press box before Friday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels and centerfielder Mike Trout. Maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe the Tigers hoped for an omen. Whatever the reason, it worked. Justin Verlander carved up the Angels and Trout, serving them up them whole with a side of Rally Monkey in a 4-2 victory before 31,357 at Comerica Park. MARINERS 3, WHITE SOX 1 Chris Sale struck out 14 but got outpitched by Felix Hernandez and the Seattle bullpen, and the Mariners ended a three-game skid Friday night by beating the Chicago White Sox 3-1. Hernandez (9-4) improved to 5-0 in eight starts since returning from the disabled list, throwing 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball.
INTERLEAGUE
CARDINALS 3, ATHLETICS 1 Jedd Gyorko homered and Luke Weaver pitched six strong innings to earn his first major league win as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Oakland Athletics 3-1 on Friday night. Gyorko’s 423-foot shot in the first extended the Cardinals’ home run streak to 15 games, the longest active streak in the majors, and made it 2-0 after just two batters. Weaver (1-1) gave up one run and four hits in a career-high six innings in his home debut for the Cardinals. Five of his seven strikeouts were looking.