Dustin Pedroia drove in three runs with a pair of well-timed singles, Josh Beckett survived a shaky start to go seven innings and the Boston Red Sox got back on the winning track with a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.

Jason Varitek drove in the other run for the Red Sox, who had lost five of their past seven games after getting shut out by the division-rival Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.

Beckett (10-5) and the Royals proved to be the perfect matchup to turn things around. The right-hander allowed all three runs in the first three innings to improve to 7-1 in his career against them — his only loss came July 28 in Boston. Beckett also reached the 10-win plateau after failing in his four previous attempts.

Daniel Bard worked the eighth for Boston, and Jonathan Papelbon made it through a perfect ninth to extend his career-best streak to 24 consecutive saves. It was his 29th of the season.

Luke Hochevar (8-10) labored through 114 pitches in just six innings for the Royals. The former No. 1 overall draft pick allowed all four runs on eight hits and two walks, despite getting some help from his defense.

The Royals threw out three Red Sox baserunners: Varitek was nabbed at second trying to stretch a single in the second inning; Crawford was thrown out by center fielder Melky Cabrera trying to score from third base on a shallow fly ball in the fourth; and Pedroia was thrown out at second base by catcher Salvador Perez, who made an alert play after a late throw to the plate on Pedroia’s RBI single in the fifth.

Alex Gordon hit a tying two-run homer in the third inning for Kansas City, and he also scored on a sacrifice fly by Billy Butler in the first, playing a significant role in all the Royals’ runs.

Boston didn’t waste any time matching Kansas City in the second. Josh Reddick doubled leading off and came home on Varitek’s two-out single. The Red Sox then pulled ahead in the third when Mike Aviles singled against his former team, Ellsbury walked, both advanced on a groundout and then scored on Pedroia’s single.

Alcides Escobar led off the bottom half of the third with a single, and Gordon followed by slapping a pitch from Beckett over the left-field wall to tie the game. His 16th homer matched a career high.

The Red Sox nearly pulled ahead in the fourth when Crawford reached on a single, swiped second base and then stole third — replays showed he should have been called out. Aviles lofted a shallow fly to center moments later, and Cabrera caught it on a jog and unloaded toward home in one motion. Perez fielded the throw, turned and braced himself as Crawford barreled into him at the plate, holding on for the out.

It was the 21st time a Royals outfielder has thrown out someone at the plate, leading the major leagues.

Undaunted, the Red Sox pulled ahead in the fifth. Jed Lowrie doubled with one out and came around to score on a two-out single by Pedroia, who added a double in the eighth inning for a three-hit game.

Beckett and the bullpen made the lead stand up the rest of the way.

— Associated Press —

The Kansas City Royals announced Thursday that the club has signed outfielder Jeff Francoeur to a two-year contract extension through 2013.  Consistent with club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

The 27-year-old Francoeur is hitting .277 this season for the Royals, his first with the club.  He has recorded 35 doubles, fifth-most in baseball, with three triples, 15 home runs, 66 RBI, 60 runs and a career-high 19 stolen bases.  In addition, the 2007 Rawlings Gold Glove winner is third in the Majors with 12 outfield assists and leads all of baseball with 93 assists since the 2005 season.

Francoeur initially signed a one-year contract with the Royals on December 15, 2010.

It wasn’t Alex Gordon’s three-run home run that had the New York Yankees chewing their nails.

It was Billy Butler’s solo shot one out later — the one they think should have been a double.

After Gordon and Butler both went deep in Kansas City’s four-run third inning Wednesday night, the Royals survived a harrowing ninth and held on for a 5-4 victory over the AL East leaders.

Butler’s ball appeared to strike the upper railing behind left field before bouncing back onto the field. Umpires ruled it a home run but went in to look at a review after talking to New York manager Joe Girardi.

Girardi argued again briefly when they returned and confirmed the designated hitter’s 15th home run. Replays showed the ball hitting the padding below the railing and bouncing up toward the front row of fans before coming back onto the field.

When Butler met reporters after the game, he had not seen a replay.

“I guess from the angle some guy saw, they didn’t think it was good,” he said. “But (umpires) have the final call. That’s why they make the judgment call.”

The Yankees were sure it was a double.

“We all thought it was a double,” said Girardi. “The umpires thought it was a home run. Billy Butler got his helmet on. He was prepared to go back to second. I didn’t think it was a home run. It’s not going to come back into play like that.”

About an hour after the game, Steve Palermo, the major league supervisor of umpires, was seen talkimg to umpires in the outfield, pointing up toward the fence.

“I was just standing over there at the end of the dugout waiting for the review,” said Butler. “I know they were over there a long time, and it took them a long time to review on that. I was just waiting for the call either way. They reviewed ity multiple times, obviously. It was their call. I didn’t see much of it.”

The Yankees loaded the bases with one out in the ninth and made it 5-4 on Robinson Cano’s sacrifice fly. After a passed ball, Joakim Soria reloaded the bases by walking Nick Swisher. Then Jorge Posada, on his 40th birthday, took a called third strike to end it. The wobbly Soria got his 22nd save in 29 opportunities.

Bruce Chen (8-5) went six innings and beat the Yankees for just the second time in seven career decisions. The Royals have lost 10 of 13 games and the veteran left-hander owns all three wins.

Curtis Granderson homered in the Yankees’ first, his sixth in eight games. He also doubled, singled and scored twice, raising his majors-leading total to 111 runs scored. Coming into the night, his 33 home runs were two shy of Toronto’s Jose Bautista for the major league lead. Russell Martin hit a solo homer in the sixth for New York.

“They have a very good eye and they don’t swing at bad pitches,” said Chen. “I felt like I was trying to make good pitches every single pitch. It’s very exciting for us to play the Yankees. They’re a very good team.”

Bartolo Colon (8-7) took his first loss in five starts, lasting five innings and allowing five runs on seven hits, with two walks, four strikeouts and the two home runs. He dropped to 15-9 against Kansas City.

Struggling rookie Mike Moustakas had three hits for the Royals, including a leadoff double in the third. After Alcides Escobar singled, Gordon hammered Colon’s 3-2 pitch 418 feet over the fence for a three-run homer, raising his RBI count to a career-high 61.

Derek Jeter was 4 for 5 and 9 for 15 for the three-game series.

Chen went six innings and allowed three runs on seven hits, with three walks and three strikeouts. He also gave up a solo home run in the sixth to Martin.

After hitting a home run in the first and doubling and scoring in the fourth, Granderson was stopped in his third at-bat by second baseman Johnny Giavotella’s outstanding defensive play. The rookie dived to his left to snare Granderson’s hard-hit grounder and threw to Chen covering the bag, ending the inning and possibly saving a run because Jeter was on second with a two-out double.

Melky Cabrera tripled leading off the fifth and made it 5-2 when he scored on Eric Hosmer’s infield out.

— Associated Press —

Robinson Cano hit a three-run homer into the Kauffman Stadium fountains, Russell Martin and Derek Jeter each drove in a pair and the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 9-7 on Tuesday night to give Ivan Nova his eighth consecutive victory.

Nova (12-4) struggled almost as much as Royals starter Danny Duffy (3-7), allowing five runs and seven hits through three innings. But he settled down to retire the side in order the next two frames, and survived long enough to move past Alfredo Aceves for the longest winning streak by a Yankees rookie since 1980.

The right-hander also tied Orlando Hernandez and Andy Pettitte for the most wins by a Yankees rookie in the past three decades. Nova hasn’t lost since a 3-2 defeat to the Los Angeles Angels on June 3.

Boone Logan, Rafael Soriano and David Robertson shepherded the game to Mariano Rivera, who pitched another perfect ninth for his 32nd save. It was also his 27th in a row against Kansas City dating to May 2, 1999.

Melky Cabrera hit a solo homer against his former team, and Jeff Francoeur drove in a pair of runs as the Royals took a 5-3 lead through three innings. But the Yankees blew the game open with a five-run fourth, which included a stretch of five consecutive hits to start the inning. Cano delivered the biggest blow, a rocket shot into the fountains in right field to finish off a marathon 12-pitch at-bat and knock Duffy from the game.

The 22-year-old Royals left-hander allowed eight runs and eight hits, walked two and hit two after mowing through the first three batters he faced in just 11 pitches. Duffy ended up throwing 90 before he was done.

Nova was just as shaky early on.

Billy Butler hit a two-out single in the first, Eric Hosmer followed with an RBI double and Francoeur gave the Royals a 2-0 lead with his base hit. He was thrown out trying to steal second to end the inning.

New York pulled ahead in the third when Duffy’s command failed him.

He plunked Curtis Granderson with one out, walked Mark Teixeira, allowed an RBI single to Cano and walked Nick Swisher to load the bases. Royals manager Ned Yost came out to the mound, but the brief visit didn’t seem to do much good. Martin’s two-run double moments later gave New York the lead.

Kansas City answered the three-spot with three runs of its own in the bottom of the inning. Alcides Escobar started the rally with a triple to left, and Alex Gordon’s chopper to third base brought him home. Cabrera followed with his 16th homer, and Butler singled and Francoeur doubled to give the Royals a 5-3 lead.

Then came the Yankees’ eventful fourth inning, which included: a leadoff bunt single by Brett Gardner; an RBI double by Jeter; back-to-back singles by Granderson and Teixeira; Yost getting tossed for arguing balls and strikes, his third ejection of the year; and Cano’s 21st homer of the season, estimated at 421 feet.

The Royals finally knocked Nova out of the game when Salvador Perez’s two-run double in the sixth pulled them within 8-7, but New York added to its cushion with its final run in the seventh.

Nova was ultimately charged with seven runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. It was his worst start since he gave up eight runs on 10 hits in three innings against the Royals on May 12 at Yankee Stadium.

This time, though, he at least earned the win.

— Asscoiated Press —