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BOSTON (AP) -The
Red Sox
made winning look easy at Fenway Park the past few days.
A no-hitter, two grand slams in a game and two pitchers coming up from Triple-A to get wins - it couldn't have gone much better
in a four-game sweep of Kansas City.
J.D. Drew and
Mike Lowell
supplied the slams Thursday to help
Daisuke Matsuzaka
remain unbeaten, and Boston completed a perfect seven-game homestand with an 11-8 win over the Royals.
The series started with
Jon Lester
's no-hitter on Monday and closed with Lowell and Drew joining the club's record books. It was just the fourth time Boston
has had two slams in a game at home.
''Everybody feels like they're doing something for us, and they are,'' Boston manager
Terry Francona
said.
After Lester's gem,
Justin Masterson
and
Bartolo Colon
were called up from Pawtucket and picked up wins.
''It closed a nice homestand for us,'' Lowell said. ''The thing I like most is we plugged two new guys in.''
Drew and Lowell were the first to hit slams in the same game at Fenway since
Tony Armas
and
Bill Buckner
did it Aug. 7, 1984. The last time Boston had two slams in a game was when the switch-hitting
Bill Mueller
hit both - one from each side - at Texas on July 29, 2003.
''They started it off by a no-hitter and we didn't pitch good against their potent offense,'' Royals manager Trey Hillman
said. ''We didn't do a whole lot offensively until today.''
Boston's seven wins came after it dropped the final four of a 4-6 road trip. The
Red Sox
open a 10-game trip in Oakland on Friday night.
Lowell also had a double and single for the
Red Sox
, who started the homestand with a three-game sweep of Milwaukee.
Jose Guillen
went 4-for-5 with a solo homer and three RBIs, and
Miguel Olivo
had three hits and five RBIs for Kansas City.
Matsuzaka (8-0) gave up three runs on six hits, walked six, struck out seven and threw two wild pitches while becoming the
AL's first eight-game winner. Arizona's
Brandon Webb
has nine wins.
Jonathan Papelbon
got the final three outs for his 14th save.
Matsuzaka became only the second Japanese-born pitcher to start a season 8-0 in the majors.
Hideki Irabu
started 1999 with eight wins for the
New York Yankees
.
''I'm very grateful that I've been given the chance to get these wins under these circumstances,'' Matsuzaka said of the run
support through a translator.
With Boston trailing 1-0 in the second,
Manny Ramirez
, Lowell and
Kevin Youkilis
each singled before Drew drove
Brian Bannister
's fastball into the second row of the Green Monster seats. Youkilis' RBI single made it 5-1 in the third.
''I fouled a ball off my foot and walked around a little bit, thinking before I got back in the box,'' Drew said. ''It's kind
of nice to be home and play well in front of your fans.''
Ramirez went 1-for-4 with a single, but remains two homers shy of becoming the 24th player in major league history to hit
500.
Lowell hit his slam off reliever
Jimmy Gobble
to cap a six-run sixth that made it 11-3, after Ramirez was intentionally walked. Lowell's line drive hit off a lightstand
above the Monster on a red-and-white sign with the numbers '498' that signify Ramirez's home run mark.
Bannister (4-6), who allowed seven runs on 12 hits, couldn't work his daytime magic against the hot
Red Sox
. Entering the game, he was 4-0 with a 0.62 ERA in starts under the sun.
''When you're facing the best lineup in the league, especially at home with that short porch in left, I feel we're going to
score runs, too,'' Bannister said. ''You go in there just ready to battle. They're a very patient lineup.''
Kansas City scored a pair in the fifth when
Alex Gordon
walked leading off - the sixth allowed by Dice-K - and scored on Guillen's RBI double. Olivo's run-scoring double cut it to
5-3.
Guillen's RBI single made it 1-0 in the first. His homer came against reliever
Craig Hansen
in the seventh.
Olivo's three-run homer cut it to 11-8 in the eighth.
Notes: Boston has won 10 straight in Fenway, its longest streak since 14 from July 19-Aug. 26, 2005. ... It was Drew's first
regular season slam with Boston. He had one in Game 6 of last season's ALCS. ... Drew had Wednesday's game off after fouling
a ball off his right knee the previous night. ... Matsuzaka threw a season-high 118 pitches. ... Francona rested C
Jason Varitek
after the club played a night game Wednesday. He's expected to get two straight days, with backup
Kevin Cash
scheduled to make his usual start catching knuckeballer Tim Wakfield Friday. ... RHP
Clay Buchholz
, on the 15-day DL with a broken middle finger nail, is slated to make a rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket Sunday. ... The
Royals' season-high 11-game trip concludes with four games in Toronto beginning Friday night. ... Cash made his first start
with Matsuzaka pitching.
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