This Lennon Lets It Be the Royals in a Rally

Opening day jitters had Patrick Lennon trying to imitate Jose Canseco in his first at-bat. The second time up, though, he imitated himself.

Lennon’s two-out single in the 12th inning with the bases loaded sent the Kansas City Royals to a 5-4 victory Friday over the Boston Red Sox, who lost their fourth in a row.

“I like to drive the ball through people,” Lennon said. “In my first at-bat I tried to hit it out, I tried to do something to excite the fans. [Jose] Canseco had hit one out, so you try to see if you can hit one farther.

“I came back in and said to myself ‘Let’s go back to what we’re supposed to do, to what got us here.”’

After Kansas City loaded the bases off loser Brad Pennington, Lennon hit a liner off Jeff Suppan over right fielder Troy O’Leary’s head to give the Royals their first victory this season.

“Any time you’re in that situation, you’re going to feel pressure,” Suppan said. “But I felt confident. It just didn’t happen.”

Johnny Damon hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs for Kansas City.

“It’s great being back,” said Lennon, who spent last year with three different minor league teams in the Boston and Minnesota organizations. “It’s great being here. But I’m pretty even keel. Of course, I’ll go home and tell my wife I got good wood on the ball and won the game. But tomorrow is another game and we’re going to try and start a winning streak.”

Terry Clark pitched two-thirds of an inning for the win.

Mike Macfarlane, in his second stint with the Royals after playing one season for the Red Sox, hit an RBI double in the ninth inning to tie it 4-4. Macfarlane’s drive off Heathcliff Slocumb scored David Howard, who had singled, stolen second and taken third on a passed ball by Mike Stanley.

“To lose a game like this when you’ve got a lead in the ninth is tough,” Red Sox Manager Kevin Kennedy said. “This is a tough one.”

Canseco’s first homer with two outs in the eighth had given Boston a 4-3 lead. Canseco homered to center off Kansas City starter Tim Belcher, who gave up eight hits and four runs in 7 2/3 innings.

The Red Sox had rallied to tie it 3-3 with two runs in the sixth. Mo Vaughn singled with one out, and Canseco shattered his bat while hitting a a double to left.

Kevin Mitchell’s sharp grounder got past third baseman Keith Lockhart for an error to score Vaughn, and Mike Greenwell followed with a sacrifice fly.

Damon’s two-run homer in the third, his first, gave the Royals a 3-1 lead.

Boston starter Aaron Sele, attempting to come back after missing most of 1995 with elbow problems, gave up three runs and eight hits in five innings.