Jose Guillen homered twice and drove in four runs in Gil Meche’s first start which was anything but perfect as the Royals lost 8-6 Sunday afternoon.
Guillen led off the second with a drive to center and hit a three-run shot off Ramon Ramirez in the eighth to get Kansas City within two. Meche (0-1), in the fourth season of a $55 million, five-year contract, lasted just 3 1/3 innings, allowing seven runs and eight hits.
Dustin Pedroia had four hits for Boston including a home run, and Adrian Beltre had three hits and three RBIs. Boston sent eight men to the plate during a four-run first inning. Clay Buchholz (1-0) worked five innings for the Red Sox, yielding three runs, two earned and seven hits.
