Scott Elarton won for just the second time this year as the Royals beat the Astros 7-2 in interleague play Friday.

Elarton worked a perfect game for 5.1 innings before Adam Everett broke up the no-hit bid with a single to center. The Astros ended thoughts of a shutout in the same inning. Will Taveras doubled to put runners on second and third before Craig Biggio’s two-RBI single made it 4-2. Elarton finished the inning but that was the end of his night.

The Royals pushed the game further out of reach with three runs in the seventh. Reggie Sanders hit an RBI single. Kansas City got two more runs on a single by Emil Brown.

The Royals scored the game’s first four runs before Houston answered in the sixth. Kansas City got single runs in the first and second, then added two more in the fifth.

Sanders and Brown each had three hits. Brown added three RBIs while Sanders pitched in two of his own and scored twice.