Hunter Renfroe hit a pair of home runs, including a go-ahead solo shot in the sixth inning, and had three RBIs to help the host Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 6-5 to open a four-game series on Monday night.

Renfroe also had a two-run homer in the fourth and has 11 this season. It was the 13th career multi-homer game of Renfroe's career, and his first since Aug. 13, 2020, as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park against Boston.

Enrique Hernandez and Bobby Dalbec each launched solo homers and Michael Chavis added an RBI for Boston.

Red Sox starter Garrett Richards allowed five runs -- all courtesy of three home runs -- and matched a season high by giving up 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out three and did not walk a batter.

Hirokazu Sawamura (4-0) tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, and Matt Barnes pitched a perfect ninth for his 17th save. Boston has won four straight and five of its last seven games.

Carlos Santana hit a three-run homer and both Michael A. Taylor and Whit Merrifield added solo shots for Kansas City, which has dropped six straight. Royals third baseman Emmanuel Rivera went 2-for-4 in his major league debut, notching his first career hit on a first-inning single.

Royals reliever Josh Staumont (0-2) took the loss after giving up just one hit -- the tie-breaking homer to Renfroe -- over two innings. Starter Danny Duffy allowed four runs on five hits, including three home runs, with a walk and two strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.

Santana's 13th homer of the season on Richards' 12th pitch of the game in the first inning put Kansas City up 3-0. Boston got a run back as Hernandez led off the home first with a homer -- his eighth of the year -- for the second straight game.

Taylor's sixth blast and Merrifield's seventh of the season put the Royals up 5-1 in the second. Dalbec's 10th homer in the home second pulled Boston within three.

Renfroe's first homer in the fourth made it a one-run game, before Chavis' two-out single plated the tying run later in the inning.

--Field Level Media