Jon Lester loves to face the Kansas City Royals.

Lester curbed the Royals on three hits for six-plus innings and Jason Varitek tripled for the first time in more than four years as the Boston Red Sox won 6-1 on Sunday.

“My stuff at times was good and at other times I was trying to do too much, overthrowing the ball a little bit,” Lester said.

Lester (13-7) has allowed two runs and six hits in 13 innings in his past two starts to beat Kansas City and Tampa Bay. He is 5-1 with a 1.30 ERA in seven career starts against the Royals, including a no-hitter on May 19, 2008.

Carl Crawford and Darnell McDonald hit solo home runs for the Red Sox. McDonald replaced Jacoby Ellsbury, who missed his second straight game with a contusion in his back after being hit by a pitch Friday.

The Red Sox took 3 of 4 from the Royals although other starters David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis and J.D. Drew were also out with injuries.

“It’s nice to know when those guys are out you have other guys to fill in and do a good job,” Lester said. “That’s big for us, a confidence-booster definitely. Guys that filled in those spots did a good job.”

Varitek’s two-out triple rolled to the right-center fence, allowing Jed Lowrie to score in the fifth to break a scoreless deadlock. Lowrie led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a Crawford ground out. Varitek’s triple was his first since June 24, 2007 at San Diego off Jake Peavy.

How did it feel?

“Not so good,” said Varitek, who was icing both knees at his clubhouse stall. “I’m just spacing them out. With two outs, it didn’t look like it’s something I shouldn’t have any problem getting to (third).”

Red Sox manager Terry Francona joked “speed never takes a day off.”

“It’s not like Jacoby and Carl, trust me,” the 39-year-old Varitek said.

“It’s not often you see Tek get a triple,” Lester said.

McDonald, who had three hits, hit his fifth home run of the season in the sixth on an 0-2 pitch from Royals rookie left-hander Danny Duffy (3-7). Aaron Crow gave up a home run to Crawford, his eighth, in the seventh inning.

Ryan Lavarnway, Adrian Gonzalez and Lowrie had RBIs in the eighth as the Red Sox scored three runs off Louis Coleman, one of four rookie pitchers the Royals used.

Duffy gave up two runs on five hits in six innings, while striking out three and walking two. He has lost four August starts since a July 31 victory at Cleveland.

Johnny Giavotella led off the Royals seventh with a triple and scored on Mike Moustakas’ single for the only run off Lester. He was replaced by Daniel Bard after 113 pitches with two runners on base. Bard retired the next three hitters.

“It’s nothing unexpected from him,” Lester said of Bard’s performance. “He’s done it since he’s been up here. It’s big to have a guy like that in our bullpen. That’s what he’s done all year. It makes your job a little easier as a starter, knowing you have those guys down there.”

The Royals loaded the bases on two walks and a Lowrie error in the second, but Lester retired Alcides Escobar on a comeback to end the inning.

“Jed makes that play basically 10 out of 10 times,” Lester said. “You have to pick your teammates up sometimes like they pick you up. I was able to minimize the damage.”

Lester did not allow a hit until Perez’s single with two out in the fourth.

“Jon Lester is bona fide,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He’s a premier lefty in this league and he showed why.”

— Associated Press —

Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas had never faced a knuckleball pitcher before Saturday night.

By the sixth inning, both Royals rookies figured out how to hit the floater.

Alex Gordon and Hosmer each drove in two runs in an eight-run sixth inning to help the Royals rally to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-4 on Saturday night, depriving knuckleballer Tim Wakefield of his 200th victory.

Wakefield, who is 0-2 with three no-decisions since a July 24 triumph over Seattle, took a 4-1 lead into the sixth, but failed to get out of the inning. He was pulled after giving up three consecutive hits with one out and the Red Sox holding onto a 4-3 advantage.

“A lot of these kids had never even seen a knuckleball before, so the third time around might have made a difference,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He would leave a couple up, but the majority were really dancing good and really dive bombing once it got into the strike zone.

“The speed of 66-67 miles per hour is difficult to time when the ball is fluttering that much. Finally there in the sixth, we did some damage. His knuckleball was really dancing. It was good to get him out of there. It was good to keep the hits coming.”

Gordon’s two-run double off Matt Albers (4-4) put the Royals up 6-4. Hosmer, who started the rally with a single off Wakefield, capped off scoring with a two-run triple off Franklin Morales.

“It was different,” Hosmer said of facing Wakefield’s knuckleball. “It seems like every pitch is moving some way different. Some are dropping and some are staying up. You’ve got to tell yourself don’t overswing, nice and easy and take it the other way. That’s why he’s been in the game this long cause it’s a great pitch. When he throws it and it’s moving how he wants it to move, it’s pretty effective.

“That first fastball from that left-hander (Morales) seemed like it was 105 miles per hour after seeing knuckleballs all the time.”

The Royals also got run-producing doubles by Jeff Francoeur and Mike Moustakas. Chris Getz’s single scored Moustakas to tie the score at 4-4.

“He’s got an unbelievable knuckleball,” Moustakas said. “You saw what he did the first five innings. He shut us down pretty good. That’s just a tribute to what he does. He’s been in this league a long time and it shows you what he’s capable of.

“Hitting the knuckleball is not an easy thing. It’s tough. It dances all over the plate. You almost have to get lucky a little bit for the ball to float into your zone and you put a good swing on it.”

The eight-run sixth matched a Royals season-high for an inning. Gordon led the Royals’ offense with two doubles and an eighth inning single for his 500th career hit.

The 45-year-old Wakefield gave up four runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. Hosmer, Moustakas and Salvador Perez were not even born when Wakefield began his professional career in 1988 as a weak-hitting first baseman for Watertown in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system. He moved to the mound the next year.

“I’m not frustrated,” Wakefield said. “I felt normal just like the last five starts. I take it like a normal start. I’m trying to get outs and give us a quality start.”

Boston built a 3-1 lead in the fourth when they had four singles and a walk. Carl Crawford’s single scored Dustin Pedroia, who led off the inning with a single. Darnell McDonald’s sacrifice fly scored Josh Reddick with the other run.

The Red Sox missed an opportunity for a much bigger inning when former Royal Mike Aviles flied out to deep center, leaving the bases loaded.

Boston added a run in the sixth when Ryan Lavarnway’s single brought home Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who led off the inning with a double, for his first big league RBI.

The Red Sox scored a run in the third, which Lavarnway led off with a walk, took second on a Paulino wild pitch and third on a McDonald bunt single. He scored when Marco Scutaro grounded into a double play.

Billy Butler’s double to right in the bottom of the inning scored Escobar.

— Associated Press —

Jarrod Saltalamacchia pounded out a three-run homer, left-hander Andrew Miller gave Red Sox manager Terry Francona precisely what he was looking for and Boston rolled to a 7-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Miller (5-1) allowed one run on three hits and a pair of walks over 5 1/3 innings, rarely finding himself in any trouble against the Royals’ feeble offense. It was his first start since July 31 after a pair of appearances out of the bullpen, and his first victory since July 20 at Baltimore.

He was pulled after just 83 pitches because Francona knew he’d be short on stamina. Alfredo Aceves followed up with 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for his second save.

Adrian Gonzalez added three hits and a sacrifice fly for Boston. Jed Lowrie had a hat trick of singles, and Darnell McDonald had an RBI triple as the Red Sox piled up 13 hits.

Boston (76-48) remained a half-game behind the New York Yankees in the AL East after roughing up Jeff Francis (4-14), who has just one win in his past 11 starts. The lefty was responsible for five runs on 11 hits and two walks in five innings, his second straight miserable start.

Francis gave up six runs in 3 2/3 innings last Sunday against the White Sox.

Jacoby Ellsbury was hit by a pitch from Royals reliever Everett Teaford in the eighth inning. He walked gingerly to first base but remained in the game, and showed no problem rounding the bases on Mike Aviles’ RBI double. Ellsbury was removed in the bottom half of the inning.

Rookie DH Ryan Lavarnway, who went 0-for-4 in his debut Thursday night, grounded out in the first inning and flied out in the third, leaving the bases loaded each time. He finally singled for his first big league hit in the fifth, and the Royals made sure the ball got back to the Boston dugout.

The Royals, with the youngest lineup in the major leagues, are certainly experiencing some growing pains against the beasts from the East. The Yankees won two of three against them earlier in the week, and Boston has taken the first two games of their four-game set. Kansas City (51-75) has lost 10 of 12 overall and fallen a season-worst 24 games below .500.

The Royals struck first for the second straight night when Mike Moustakas doubled into the gap in left field leading off the third inning. He moved up to third on Salvador Perez’s sacrifice bunt and scampered home when Alex Gordon lofted a shallow fly ball to center.

Once again, the lead was short-lived.

Carl Crawford doubled leading off the fourth and scored on McDonald’s triple, and he gave Boston the lead when he came home on Ellsbury’s sacrifice fly.

Boston gave its pitching staff some breathing room in the fifth. Lowrie singled for the third straight time, Lavarnway followed with a base hit, and Saltalamacchia ripped Francis’ 0-2 pitch over the Royals’ bullpen in left field for his 12th homer of the season.

— Associated Press —