David Ortiz hit a grand slam to cap a five-run fourth inning and Dustin Pedroia extended his career-best hitting streak to 24 games with a solo homer, carrying the Boston Red Sox to a 12-5 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.

Jacoby Ellsbury homered leading off the first inning for the Red Sox, who won for the 19th time in 23 games and scored in double digits for the second straight night.

Pedroia, who went 4 for 5 in Tuesday’s 13-9 win, added two singles and a sacrifice fly. Adrian Gonzalez had three hits and three RBIs to raise his major-league leading total to 87.

Eric Hosmer hit a three-run homer and Billy Butler added a solo shot for the Royals.

Like Tuesday’s loss, Kansas City blew an early lead. After Hosmer’s homer put the Royals up 3-0 in the first, Boston scored two runs in the bottom of the inning and three in the second before breaking it open in the fourth against starter Bruce Chen (5-4).

John Lackey (9-8) won his fourth straight start, allowing four runs — three earned — and 11 hits, walking one and striking out three in 5 2-3 innings.

Boston had 16 hits, reaching double digits for the 11th straight home game.

Ellsbury and Pedroia, Boston’s first two batters, homered. It was the first time since July 21, 1995, that the first two Red Sox homered.

Ellsbury’s caromed off the Pesky Pole in right and Pedroia hit his into the Green Monster seats, extending his career-best streak, the longest by a second baseman in club history.

In the second, Ellsbury drew a bases-loaded walk, Pedroia had a sacrifice fly and Gonzalez’s run-scoring grounder made it 5-3.

The Red Sox broke it open with the five-run fourth that was highlighted by Ortiz’s slam. Pedroia, Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis singled before Ortiz belted his 10th career slam — ninth with the Red Sox — over Boston’s bullpen, tying him with Rico Petrocelli for second all-time in club history behind Ted Williams’ 17. Yamaico Navarro had an RBI single earlier in the inning.

With the slam, Ortiz reached 1,000 RBIs with Boston.

Chen was tagged for 10 runs and 10 hits in four innings.

Butler’s homer made it 10-4 in the fifth.

Notes: Pedroia’s hitting streak is the AL’s longest this season. He broke a tie with Del Pratt’s 23-gamer in 1922. … Gordon had a career-high three doubles. … Red Sox 3B Youkilis, who missed Tuesday’s game with a strained right hamstring, was not in the original lineup but came in and told manager Terry Francona he felt fine. “He came in and said ‘There’s no reason for me not to play,”’ Francona said. … Hosmer came into the game 15 for 30 in the last seven. … Boston third-base coach Tim Bogar was hit in the back of the helmet’s by Pedroia’s foul liner in the second, sending the helmet flying, but he put it back on, smiled and didn’t need to be checked out on the field. … Chen had allowed one run or less in three of his five starts since coming off the DL on June 24. … Francona rested struggling LF Carl Crawford with the lefty Chen starting. “It was a good night,” the manager said. “He hasn’t had much success against this guy.” Crawford was 1 for 11 in the first two games of the series, 0 for 6 with four strikeouts Monday. … The Royals blew three leads in Tuesday’s loss.

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) – Jeff Francoeur has gained the reputation of doling out the hardest blows during the Royals’ five celebrations after game-ending hits this season.

Francoeur was on the receiving end Tuesday night as his sacrifice fly in the 10th inning — he hit a tying homer in the sixth — lifted Kansas City to a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night.

“I’ll take that any day of the week for a walkoff,” Francoeur said. “I beat up on people pretty good after walkoffs. I got beat up pretty good tonight. I went to the fetal position.”

After an 0-6 trip to Cleveland and Texas, the Royals have won four straight at Kauffman Stadium, where they are 13-5.

“With our road trip the way it was, it’s huge to come here and get these four games,” Francoeur said. “We feel if we’re close in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings we’ve got a shot to win the game. We seem relaxed at home. We want to find a way to play better on the road.”

Jason Berken (0-2) led off the 10th by walking Gordon on four pitches. He advanced to third on Billy Butler’s groundball single to center.

“We’ve been preaching first and third all year and Gordon went first to third,” Francoeur said. “It’s a great move, an aggressive move so we’d have a couple of chances to win it. I was the guy who hit the flyball, but those two guys are the ones who set it up.”

Rookie left-hander Tim Collins (2-1) struck out Luke Scott, the only batter he faced, to pick up the victory. It was an intriguing match up. Collins entered the game with left-handers hitting .321 off him, plus he had walked 12. Scott, however, had just one hit in 15 at-bats off left-handers before Tuesday

“I knew he’s a good fastball hitter,” Collins said. “Once I got strike one, I was able to mix in curveballs. His numbers against curveballs are far below what they are against fastballs, so that was my approach, get strike one and use my curveball. It worked.

“I don’t want to say it’s a well deserved win,” he added. “It would have been nice to see (starter Jeff) Francis get the ‘W,’ but that’s what happens, you come in and throw to one batter and get the win.”

Scott hit a three-run homer, his fourth in six games, to tie the score at 3 in the fourth. Scott homered to right after singles by Vladimir Guerrero and Adam Jones.

Guerrero walked in the sixth, his first walk of the season in his 115th plate appearance, an Orioles record to start the season. Mark Reynolds also walked before Jones hit an RBI single to tie it. The Orioles went ahead 5-4 on Matt Wieters’ sacrifice fly.

Orioles starter Brad Bergesen, who had been supported by only three runs in his first four starts, left with a lead for the first time. He gave up four runs — three earned — on six hits and one walk.

He needs to get a little deeper into the game,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “He was at 90 pitches in the fifth inning, but it was a chance to win. It looked like it took a little while for him to adjust. There were a lot of foul balls and not a lot of swing-and-misses. We’ve got to have something to put them away with.”

Francoeur led off the bottom of the sixth with his team-leading seventh home run on a 3-1 pitch from Jeremy Accardo.

The Royals jumped out to a 3-0 in the second, which included run-producing doubled from Wilson Betemit and Mike Aviles. Bryan Pena had a sacrifice fly for the other run.

Melky Cabrera’s double to the left-field corner in the fifth scored Chris Getz, who reached on Cesar Izturis’ error.

Francis was pulled after 5 1-3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits and four walks, while striking out four. Francis, who signed as a free agent in January, is winless in his first seven starts.

NOTES: Orioles 2B Brian Roberts had a root canal Tuesday and did not play. Cesar Izturis replaced Roberts, who had started the first 27 games at second. “Hopefully it’s something that won’t keep him down for long,” Showalter said. SS J.J. Hardy, who is on the disabled list with a strained left oblique, could be going to the minors in the next couple of days for a rehab assignment, Showalter said. Betemit made his first start of the season at first base for the Royals. It was his 63rd game and 39th start at the position. Royals RHP Robinson Tejeda, who is on the DL with shoulder inflammation, threw his second batting practice Tuesday. Royals CF Jarrod Dyson, who left after spraining his left ankle in the first inning Sunday, did not play. “He’s feeling better,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He came in (Monday, an offday) and had treatment. It was a little bit sore, but at the end of treatment most of that soreness was gone.”

(Sports Network) – The Kansas City Royals close out a brief two-game series against the Chicago White Sox this afternoon at Kauffman Stadium, as they try to make it five wins in six games to start the season.

Kansas City notched yet another thrilling win in its final at-bat Tuesday, winning in 12 innings on Melky Cabrera’s base hit to center. The 7-6 victory was the Royals’ fourth win of the season and all have come via their last at- bat, including two straight in extra innings. Billy Butler drilled a two-run homer to tie the game at 6-6 in the eighth and Cabrera finished with three hits and three driven in.

Alex Gordon also collected three hits, including a two-run home run.

The late-inning heroics helped bail out starter Luke Hochevar, who surrendered six runs — five earned — on seven hits in six innings. Jeremy Jeffress (1-0) got the win for getting the final two outs in the top of the 12th.

Paul Konerko launched a three-run homer while Gordon Beckham went 3-for-6 with an RBI and a run scored for the White Sox, who got seven decent innings from starter Gavin Floyd. He was charged with four runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

“We jumped up early and it looked like it was going to be an easy win,” Konerko said. “They hung right in there and started swinging the bats and their bullpen did a heckuva job.”

Tony Pena (0-1) took the loss after coming on for the 12th, as Chris Getz led off with a single, moved to second on Mike Aviles’ sacrifice bunt and crossed the plate on Cabrera’s game-winning hit.

“It really is pretty crazy,” Getz said of the odd last at-bat win streak. “I could think of two. Not three and certainly not four. Obviously, winning is the bottom line, but hopefully we can reel off some wins early.”

Jeff Francis gets the call for KC this afternoon after taking the ball last Friday against the Angels in an encouraging outing for the oft-injured lefty hurler. Francis’ lone blemish was a solo home run to Howie Kendrick in the first inning — one of five hits allowed over seven innings. He struck out four and walked one in his Royals debut.

The 30-year-old spent the last six seasons with Colorado and has faced the White Sox twice previously in interleague play, going 0-1 with a 6.75 earned- run average.

Mark Buehrle will also be making his second start of the season opposite Francis and will try to snap a two-game slide for Chicago. The veteran southpaw got the win in a 15-10 Opening Day victory against Cleveland. Buehrle went six innings and gave up four runs on eight hits.

The 32-year-old will be making his 46th career start against Kansas City — the most against any team — with Buehrle posting a 21-11 record and lifetime 3.57 ERA that includes two relief appearances. He matched up with the Royals on four occasions in 2010, going 1-2 with a 3.76 ERA.

Chicago will be without slugger Adam Dunn for at least the next five days, as he apparently underwent an emergency appendectomy Tuesday night in Kansas City.

Chicago won 10 of 18 matchups with the Royals last season.

The Sports Network

The Kansas City Royals defeated the Chicago White Sox, capping a 12-inning marathon on Tuesday night. On Wednesday the White Sox will look for revenge after a short turnaround.

The White Sox and Royals are slatted to play at 1:10 (CST), roughly 14 hours after ending their Tuesday game.

Kansas City (4-1) lost its season opener, but it has shown a flair for late-inning dramatics since.

The Royals won for the third time on a walk-off hit and for the fourth time in their final at-bat after Melky Cabrera’s RBI single in the 12th inning lifted them to a 7-6 win over the White Sox (2-2) on Tuesday.

“These first five games have been the funnest five games I ever played in my life,” said Billy Butler, whose two-run homer tied it 6-all in the eighth. “Hopefully we can get off to a good lead and just cruise to a victory.”

It was Kansas City’s second straight win in extra innings. On Sunday, Matt Treanor hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 13th of a 12-9 victory over the Angels.

While the Royals, who haven’t won five in a row since Sept. 7-11, 2009, are hitting well under pressure, White Sox relievers continue to struggle late in games.

Chris Sale blew a save opportunity and Tony Pena took the loss Tuesday. Chicago’s bullpen has given up 14 runs, 22 hits and three home runs in 12 1-3 innings.

The White Sox will try to earn a split of the series before heading home as they hand the ball to Mark Buehrle (1-0, 6.00 ERA), who received plenty of support in his first start.

The left-hander gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings of a 15-10 win over Cleveland on Friday. At one point, the White Sox led 14-0.

“You’d love to get that many runs, but you know it’s not going to happen every time,” he said.

Buehrle would appreciate some support against the Royals after he went 1-2 with a 3.76 ERA in four starts against them last season. Chicago scored one run while he was on the mound in three of those starts.

Buehrle, who lost both visits to Kauffman Stadium, is 21-11 with a 3.57 ERA in his career against Kansas City.

He’ll try to cool off Melky Cabrera, who had three hits and three RBIs Tuesday and is hitting .325 with 14 extra-base hits against the White Sox. Cabrera, though, is 8 for 14 with a double and a home run against Buehrle.

The Royals will counter with Jeff Francis (0-0, 1.29), who was impressive in his Kansas City debut, giving up five hits, including a solo home run, over seven innings of Friday’s 2-1 victory over the Angels.

The 30-year-old missed the entire 2009 season and part of 2010 after surgery on his throwing shoulder. He went 4-6 with a 5.00 ERA with the Rockies last year.

The left-hander is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in two starts against the White Sox. This is the first time he’s faced them since 2008.

Copyright 2010 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. STATS LLC and The Associated Press contributed to this article. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

Article updated: 4/4/2011 07:53 PM

White Sox vs. Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium

TV: Comcast SportsNet Plus Tuesday; Comcast SportsNet Wednesday

Radio: WSCR 670-AM

Pitching matchups: The White Sox’ Gavin Floyd (0-0) vs. Luke Hochevar (0-1) Tuesday at 7:10 p.m.; Mark Buehrle (1-0) vs. Jeff Francis (0-0) Wednesday at 1:10 p.m.

At a glance: The Royals are the AL Central’s early leaders after winning three of four at home against the Angels to open the season. Kansas City hit 6 home runs in the series, and two new players — catcher Matt Treanor and right fielder Jeff Francouer — each had 4 RBI. Floyd is a lifetime 3-3 (2.45 ERA) vs. the Royals. Hochevar is a lifetime 3-3 (3.91 ERA) vs. the White Sox. Alex Rios is a career 1-for-14 vs. Hochevar. The Sox were 10-8 against Kansas City last season (3-6 on the road).

Next: Tampa Bay Rays, Thursday-Sunday at U.S. Cellular Field

— Scot Gregor