BOSTON (AP) — Dustin Pedroia came to the plate in the eighth inning knowing he had some sort of special streak going.

He just wasn’t exactly sure how historic it was.

Pedroia had four hits to extend his streak to 11 straight at-bats before bouncing into a double play with a chance to tie the major-league record, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 8-3 on Saturday night.

“I heard something,” said Pedroia, the 2008 AL MVP. “I didn’t know what it was. I was going to the bathroom and heard them say it on TV.”

Pedroia’s streak, which stretched over three games, ended in the eighth inning. The big league mark of hits in 12 straight official at-bats is shared by Walt Dropo for Detroit in 1952, Pinky Higgins of the Red Sox in 1938 and Johnny Kling of the Cubs in 1902.

“Whenever your name is up there with guys in black and white photos, it’s pretty special,” winning pitcher David Price said. “He’s a gamer. He’s a very special teammate. Everybody on this team cherishes what he brings to his team each and every day.”

Xander Bogaerts homered and drove in three runs, and Mookie Betts and Hanley Ramirez hit consecutive homers for Boston, which snapped a three-game losing streak with its 11th win in 16 games.

Price (13-8) won his fourth straight start, giving up two runs in six innings to lower his ERA to 3.97, the lowest it’s been since after his first start of the season.

Danny Duffy (11-2) gave up three homers and seven runs in five innings, halting a personal 10-game winning streak.

Salvador Perez hit two solo homers for the Royals, who lost for just the fourth time 20 games.

Even Royals manager Ned Yost could appreciate the run Pedroia was on.

“He’s been hotter than a firecracker, for sure,” he said. “I mean 4 for 4 last night, 4 for 5 tonight. He had a real hot streak and what’s amazing to me is he keeps his bat in the zone for so long he can handle so many pitches. Just a really good hitter. I’ve always thought that about him though.”

Duffy had allowed two or fewer runs in five straight starts — and six of seven — before Boston took care of that string with two each in the first and second innings.

Two batters in, the Red Sox jumped ahead 2-0 on Bogaerts’ 16th homer, a drive that completely left Fenway Park over the Green Monster after Pedroia singled.

In the bottom of the second after the Royals had tied it, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Pedroia had consecutive RBI doubles, pushing Boston in front 4-2.

Perez homered and Alcides Escobar had an RBI double in the top of the inning.

Pedroia collected his 10th consecutive hit with a run-scoring single to make it 5-2 in the fourth. His 11th was a ground single to center in the sixth. He then bounced into the double play in the eighth.

Betts hit his 29th, a solo shot, in the fifth and Ramirez followed with his two pitches later to nearly the same spot, two rows into the Monster seats about three fans apart. After watching Ramirez’s drive land in the seats, Duffy just smiled in disbelief as he waited for a new ball from home plate umpire Adrian Johnson.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Wade Davis (flexor strain), LHP Jason Vargas (recovering from Tommy John surgery) and RHP Kris Medlen (right rotator cuff inflammation) were all expected to pitch for Triple-A Omaha on Saturday.

Red Sox: Manager John Farrell said RHP Koji Uehara (strained chest muscle) threw 53 pitches with “good intensity” in a bullpen session on Friday and he’s expected to throw again Monday. … C Ryan Hanigan (left ankle tendinitis) started a rehab assignment with Double-A Portland on Saturday.

YES, 2K

David Ortiz played his 2,000 game as a DH (1721 for Boston, 279 Minnesota), most ever in the big leagues. Harold Baines (1980-2001) is next with 1,643.

NICE GRAB

A fan in the upper deck reached over the railing with his glove a foot or so and grabbed a foul ball behind home plate.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura (9-9, 4.27 ERA) is set to start the series finale on Sunday night. He’s 3-0 with a 2.03 ERA in six starts this month.

Red Sox: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-5, 5.11) is expected to start for the first time since leaving his Aug. 16 start with tightness in his left hamstring. The lefty was scratched the night before his scheduled start last Sunday.

— Associated Press —

BOSTON (AP) — August continues to be kind to the Kansas City Royals.

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.

Hosmer homered for the second time this season off Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright (13-6), who took the loss in his first game back off the disabled list with a right shoulder strain, giving up five runs and seven hits.

“Honestly, you just have to swing hard and hope the ball doesn’t break. But if it does, it breaks into your bat,” Hosmer said.

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.

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.

“I had a little bit of a feeling with Steven Wright being on the DL and not pitching, that knuckleball is a feel pitch,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “My thought was `Maybe it’s going to take him an inning or two to settle in.’ I was right.”

Mookie Betts had five hits and two RBI for the Red Sox. Dustin Pedroia added four hits and an RBI.

“That’s just how it goes sometimes,” Betts said. “Sometimes we score the ones we’re not expecting and then when we you need to score, sometimes it just doesn’t happen.”

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 two-run 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.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Wade Davis (right flexor strain) is expected to throw for Triple-A Omaha on Saturday, and then possibly again on Monday. Yost said he doesn’t anticipate him returning before Sept. 1.

Red Sox: Rookie LF Andrew Benintendi went through another series of tests Friday which reaffirmed the original diagnosis of no structural damage to his sprained left knee. He was hurt during Boston’s loss to the Rays Wednesday night. Benintendi was walking around the clubhouse with no brace Friday. “Obviously it’s something you don’t plan on,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that it happened and I’m just going to try to get as healthy as possible as quickly as I can.” … RHP Koji Uehara, who has been on the DL since July 20 with right pectoral sprain, threw a bullpen session Friday.

STREAK ENDS

Kansas City’s bullpen extended its scoreless streak to 41 1/3 innings pitching before allowing a run in the ninth inning. It was the longest streak in the majors since the Kansas City A’s went 44 innings in 1966.

OLYMPIC HOMECOMING

Needham, Massachusetts native and Olympic medalist Aly Raisman began her homecoming tour Friday by throwing out the first pitch before the game.

Raisman won her second Olympic gold medal as a member of the U.S. women’s gymnastics team in Rio, as well as two silver medals in the women’s individual all-around and floor exercise.

Before tossing her pitch, Raisman took off the medals she was wearing and let David Ortiz wear them while he caught for her.

UP NEXT

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (11-1, 2.66 ERA) will make his 20th start of the season and 100th of his career on Saturday. He earned his 10th straight win in Kansas City’s 2-1 win over Minnesota on Sunday, holding the Twins to one run and eight hits. His next strikeout will be the 500th of his career.

Red Sox: LHP David Price (12-8, 4.00) leads the majors with nine starts of at least eight innings this season. His 2.01 career ERA against the Royals is the third-lowest among active pitchers.

— Associated Press —

MIAMI (AP) — Alcides Escobar is the latest player to make an impact at the plate for the Kansas City Royals.

Escobar homered, doubled, and drove in two runs to lead the surging Royals past the Miami Marlins 5-2 on Thursday night.

“Esky had a great game,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Just had a great game. Defensively, offensively, the home run was big to give us a two-run lead at that point.”

Escobar is hitting .388 (19 for 49) with four doubles, a triple, and a home run in his last 13 games.

Salvador Perez and Kendrys Morales also drove in runs for the Royals as the defending World Series champions have won 15 of 18 to pull within four games of the second AL wild card spot.

“We’ve been playing great baseball as of late, but we definitely know we’re a long way from where we want to be,” Royals right fielder Lorenzo Cain said. “We have to continue hopefully winning series — that’s our main goal.”

Kansas City starter Edinson Volquez (10-10) pitched five innings and allowed two runs, both unearned, and three hits.

The Royals’ bullpen, which has been a successful formula for the reigning two-time AL pennant winners, pitched four scoreless innings to push their franchise-record scoreless streak to 38 2/3 innings — the best in the majors since 2002-03 when San Francisco tossed 39 1/3 straight.

“They’ve just been spectacular,” Yost said.

Kelvin Herrera pitched a flawless ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances.

Tom Koehler (9-9) allowed four runs, three earned, and seven hits in six innings for the Marlins.

“It was an interesting game,” Koehler said. “You’ve got to give them credit. They capitalized on our mistakes we made tonight.”

Kansas City went 4 for 28 with runners in scoring position and scored six runs during the three-game series, but left Miami with two victories.

“We don’t care what we do as long as we win,” Yost said. “As long as we score more runs than they do and it’s a combination of pitching, great defense, and timely hitting and that’s been our recipe for a while now.”

The Marlins also struggled hitting with runners in scoring position during the series going 3 for 26 and leaving 24 men on base including 11 on Thursday.

“We had a few chances, we didn’t have a ton, but we had a few chances but weren’t able to scratch,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.

The Royals opened the scoring in the third on an RBI double by Perez after the Marlins elected to intentionally walk Eric Hosmer with first base open. Cheslor Cuthbert scored on Perez’s ground ball down the left-field line.

Escobar extended the Royals’ lead to 2-0 on a home run to center field in the fourth. It was his third of the season and second of the month.

“I was looking for a fastball on that pitch,” Escobar said. “(Koehler) threw me a first-pitch cutter and the next pitch was a fastball and I swung the bat and hit the ball really good.”

Third baseman Cuthbert had two doubles to go with two errors, one of which led to the Marlins’ two runs coming in the fourth to tie the game at 2.

Escobar’s tiebreaking RBI double off Koehler in the sixth gave the Royals the lead. Morales’ pinch-hit sacrifice fly put the Royals on top 4-2.

The Marlins threatened in the sixth loading the bases with two outs, but lefty Matt Strahm entered the game and got Dee Gordon to ground out to escape the jam.

“The bullpen was phenomenal and Strahm probably gets the gold star,” Yost said.

The Royals pushed their lead to 5-2 in the ninth as Raul Mondesi walked, stole two bases, and scored on catcher J.T. Realmuto’s throwing error trying to get Mondesi at third on his stolen base attempt.

“A club like that over there that’s got guys that can hit balls out of the ballpark, a three-run lead is much better than a two-run lead,” Yost said.

Both teams combined for six errors.

DYSON WEB GEM

Royals center fielder Jarrod Dyson made one of the best catches ever at Marlins Park when he robbed Christian Yelich of a home run in the first inning.

“That was probably the best play that anybody’s made for me in my entire career,” Volquez said.

Yelich said: “It was a great play. It’s a huge ball park. We play in the worst hitters’ park in baseball so you better get it. I didn’t get enough of it and he made a great play. You’ve got to hit it to get it out of here. It’s a terrible hitters’ park.”

Dyson ran to make a leaping left-handed grab up against the wall in center field.

“Actually off the bat I thought I was burnt and I had no shot, but as I kept running and got closer I was like, `Yeah I got a chance,” Dyson said.

Many of Dyson’s teammates gave him the Royals’ customary tip of the cap for an impressive defensive play on his way back to the dugout.

“It felt great,” Dyson said. “I think that’s the first one I’ve ever robbed in my career so it was a pretty special moment for me.”

It was the first home run robbed at Marlins Park since it opened in 2012.

“That’s history right there and I love being a part of history,” Dyson said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: C Salvador Perez took a foul ball off his face mask in the eighth and was replaced by Drew Butera in the ninth as a precaution. “He got a little light-headed so we just got him out,” Yost said.

Marlins: RF Giancarlo Stanton (groin strain) is hopeful he can return to the team at some point during the regular season to help the Marlins’ after sustaining the injury on Aug. 13. “Anything could help so whatever I can do to be back, if it’s possible, is going to happen,” Stanton said.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (8-9, 3.58) will start Friday’s game at Boston against RHP Steven Wright (13-5, 3.01) in a three-game series with the Red Sox. Kennedy has recorded five straight starts of at least six innings and one-or-fewer runs matching Larry Gura for the longest such streak in franchise history. Kennedy is 2-0 with a 0.79 ERA during the stretch.

Marlins: RHP David Phelps (7-6, 2.28) will take the mound Friday to begin a three-game series against San Diego, which will start former Marlins RHP Jarred Cosart (0-1, 4.54). Phelps is 2-1 with a 1.31 ERA over his last four starts since moving into the rotation.

— Associated Press —