Jeff Francis pitched six-plus innings to win for the first time since July 29, Melky Cabrera homered and the Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-6 on Thursday night.

Billy Butler went 4 for 5 with two RBIs and scored twice as the Royals won their first series since taking two of three against Baltimore from Aug. 2-4. It was Kansas City’s first series victory in Toronto since August 2002.

Butler doubled and scored in the fourth, singled in both the sixth and seventh and doubled home a pair of runs off reliever Shawn Camp in the eighth. He went 8 for 15 with five extra-base hits to help the Royals win twice in the three-game series.

J.P. Arencibia and Edwin Encarnacion homered for the Blue Jays, but Toronto lost for the fourth time in six games.

Francis (5-14) came in 0-3 with an 8.27 ERA in his past four outings but was solid in his first career start in Canada. The left-hander, born in Vancouver, British Columbia, improved to 3-0 with a 2.37 ERA in three career starts against Toronto.

The Blue Jays managed just three hits against Francis over the first six innings before chasing him in the seventh. Kelly Johnson led off with a single and Arencibia followed with a two-run drive to left, his 20th. Francis left after Mike McCoy followed with a single.

Greg Holland came on and got Yunel Escobar to ground into a force before fanning Eric Thames and Jose Bautista.

Holland pitched two innings and Joakim Soria gave up Encarnacion’s 13th homer, a two-run shot in the ninth.

Francis, who won just one of his previous nine decisions, gave up two runs and six hits. He walked three, one intentional, and struck out five.

Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez led off the third with a double and scored on a two-out base hit by Johnny Giavotella. Butler doubled to begin the fourth and scored on a two-out single from Mike Moustakas.

The Royals got two more in the sixth. Cabrera doubled, moved to third on Butler’s single and scored on a base hit by Jeff Francoeur. After Moustakas grounded into a fielder’s choice, Perez drove in Butler with a base hit to center.

Cabrera chased Blue Jays left-hander Brett Cecil with a one-out homer to left in the seventh, his 17th.

Cecil (4-7) lost his third straight decision, allowing five runs and nine in 6 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out three.

Arencibia’s homer in the seventh cut it to 5-2 but Butler’s two-run double in the eighth restored Kansas City’s five-run lead.

Brett Lawrie hit an RBI triple off Holland in the bottom half and Arencibia added a sacrifice fly, but the Royals answered in the ninth when Moustakas hit an RBI double off Rommie Lewis and Mitch Maier added a sacrifice fly off Jesse Litsch.

Johnson, acquired Tuesday from Arizona, made his Toronto debut. Batting in the seventh spot, he went 1 for 2 with two walks. He also threw out Maier trying to score from third on a grounder in the eighth.

— Associated Press —

Brett Lawrie hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning, Jose Bautista added his major league-leading 37th homer and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Wednesday night.

Jesse Litsch (5-3) pitched one scoreless inning of relief for the win. Frank Francisco worked ninth for his 11th save.

Melky Cabrera walked to begin the ninth and, after Billy Butler lined out, stole second. Francisco struck out Eric Hosmer and ended it by getting Jeff Francoeur to line out to right.

Louis Coleman (1-3) took the loss for the Royals, who have not won consecutive games since Aug. 3-4. Kansas City has won four of its past 16.

Lawrie broke a 3-3 tie with a leadoff blast to left in the seventh, his fourth. The rookie third baseman also hit an RBI triple in the fourth.

Toronto’s Ricky Romero came in with a 5-0 record and 0.89 ERA since July 27, tied for the most wins in the majors while compiling the best ERA in that span. But the left-hander wasn’t as sharp against Kansas City, giving up three runs and eight hits in six innings. That was as many earned runs as he had allowed in his previous three starts combined. Romero walked four and struck out three.

Romero hit Alex Gordon to begin the first and the Royals outfielder stole second before scoring on Butler’s double.

Gordon walked to open the third, moved to second on a grounder and came home on Butler’s RBI single.

Toronto scored three runs in the fourth. Yunel Escobar was hit by a pitch from right-hander Luke Hochevar and Bautista responded to a brushback by hitting a towering home run off the facing of the third deck in left.

One out later, Edwin Encarnacion singled and then scored on Lawrie’s triple to left-center.

Kansas City tied it when Gordon led off the fifth with a homer to right, his career-high 17th.

Like Romero, Hochevar didn’t figure in the decision, allowing three runs and four hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out five.

— Associated Press —

Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler homered, Bruce Chen won four consecutive starts for the first time in his career and the Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-4 on Tuesday night.

Jeff Francoeur matched his career high with four hits as the Royals, who had lost six of seven away from home, opened a 10-game, 10-day road trip on a winning note.

Chen (9-5) improved to 4-1 with a 3.68 ERA in five August starts. The left-hander allowed three runs and four hits in 7 2/3 innings. He walked one and tied a career best nine strikeouts.

Chen was perfect through three innings before Yunel Escobar singled to open the fourth, snapping an 0-for-17 slump.

Greg Holland replaced Chen after Mike McCoy drew a two-out walk in the eighth. McCoy stole second but Holland got Escobar to ground out.

Joakim Soria gave up an RBI single to Adam Lind in the ninth but finished for his 23rd save in 30 opportunities.

Kansas City came in having lost seven of nine overall and 21 of its previous 28 in Toronto but jumped on Blue Jays right-hander Brandon Morrow with a three-run, four-hit second.

Hosmer led off with a homer to center, his 11th and first since July 27 at Boston. Francoeur doubled and Johnny Giavotella followed with an RBI single to center, advancing to second on Colby Rasmus’ fielding error. Salvador Perez capped the rally with an RBI single.

The Royals chased Morrow in the fifth, scoring three more runs. Butler hit a one-out homer to left, his 16th. Hosmer singled, stole second and scored on Giavotella’s double. Perez ended Morrow’s night with an RBI triple to right.

Morrow (9-8) lost for the third time in four starts, allowing six runs and a season-high 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out five.

Escobar had the only big hit of the night against Chen, a three-run homer to center in the sixth, his 11th. Chen responded by setting down the next seven batters in order.

Blue Jays right-hander Joel Carreno made his major league debut in the sixth and worked 3 1/3 scoreless innings.

— Associated Press —

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 —