Red Sox Rally Again to Hand Royals a Loss

Todd Walker’s RBI double in the eighth inning sent the Boston Red Sox to 6-5 win over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night and a three-game sweep at Boston.

The Royals have dropped four in a row and five of six after getting off to a franchise-best 17-4 start. Mike Sweeney, Carlos Beltran and Raul Ibanez homered for Kansas City.

Trot Nixon homered for the Red Sox, who won their fourth consecutive game and second in a row in their last at-bat. They rallied to overcome a 5-3 deficit with single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

The Red Sox won, 5-4, Wednesday with the help of three hit batsmen in the ninth, and plate umpire Larry Poncino warned both teams.

On Thursday, there were three ejections -- Boston starter Casey Fossum and Manager Grady Little in the first, and Kansas City catcher Mike DiFelice in the eighth.

New York 2, Seattle 1 -- Mike Mussina matched a career high with his eighth straight win, backed by home runs from Alfonso Soriano and Jorge Posada at New York, and the Yankees won for the 11th time in 14 games. Mussina (6-0) became the first Yankee pitcher to win his first six starts since Bob Turley won seven in 1958.

Baltimore 5-6, Detroit 2-4 -- Jay Gibbons broke up Mike Maroth’s no-hit bid with a leadoff single in the eighth and the Orioles went on to score six runs with two out to sweep a doubleheader against the Tigers at Detroit.

Toronto 7, Texas 6 -- Roy Halladay won his first game of the season and the Blue Jays overcame four Ranger homers at Toronto, including Rafael Palmeiro’s 498th.

Chicago 7, Oakland 5 -- Magglio Ordonez went three for five with a home run, and Miguel Olivo also hit a solo homer as the White Sox avoided a sweep at Chicago.

Minnesota 6, Tampa Bay 5 -- Cristian Guzman’s double in the 13th inning at Minneapolis scored Jacque Jones and the Twins completed a three-game sweep.