Jon Lester rolled to his sixth straight win behind seven innings of one-run ball and David Ortiz continued to surge with a two-run homer and three RBI, as Boston managed to split a four-game series with the Royals by taking the finale at Fenway Park, 8-1.

Lester (6-2) moved to 6-0 over his last eight starts, scattered four hits, walked four, struck out five and lowered his earned-run average to 2.97. The lefty held a lofty 8.44 ERA and 0-2 mark three starts into the season. Marco Scutaro went 3- for-5 with a pair of doubles and two runs batted in, while Mike Cameron also clubbed two doubles, scored three times and knocked in two for the Red Sox, who have won seven of nine overall. Kansas City’s Bruce Chen went four innings in the start, limiting Boston to a run on two hits with five strikeouts. Brad Thompson (0-4) came on in relief and was blitzed for six runs on seven hits over 1 2/3 frames.