KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Paulo Orlando opened the season on the Kansas City Royals' bench with Reymond Fuentes starting in right field and Jarrod Dyson on the disabled list.

When Dyson returned, he started in right and Fuentes was optioned to Triple-A Omaha. When Dyson sputtered, manager Ned Yost decided to give Orlando an extended look in right field.

Orlando went 3-for-4 with a home run and triple and drove in four runs Tuesday, and Yordano Ventura pitched effectively into the sixth inning as the Royals topped the Boston Red Sox 8-4.

The defending World Series champion Royals won back-to-back games for the first time since April 21-22 and evened their record at 19-19. The Red Sox, who lead the majors with 233 runs, scored fewer than five runs for the first time in nine games.

"You try to find a hot hitter and you kind of ride it out," Yost said. "We just right now need the offense. The offense from the bottom of the order tonight was fantastic."

Cheslor Cuthbert, Omar Infante and Orlando, the Royals' 7-8-9 hitters, combined to go 8-for-12 with five RBIs and five runs. Cuthbert had his first career three-hit game, while Orlando hit his first triple and home run of the season.

The Royals broke the game open with a three-run eighth, which included Orlando's two-run homer off Koji Uehara. Uehara also committed a throwing error on an Infante bunt, which allowed Salvador Perez, who had walked, to score from first base.

"I should have put that ball in my pocket and not thrown it," Uehara said. "I reached it and didn't have a good grip on it."

Then Orlando pulled a 1-1 Uehara pitch over the Royals' left field bullpen.

"He leaves the ball up in the zone to Orlando," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "It was a little uncharacteristic of Koji to give up the long ball like that."

It was only the fourth career homer for Orlando, a 30-year-old Brazilian who made his major league debut last year.

"I'm very happy to be here," Orlando said. "I just come to the field to help. I'm here for anything, whatever they need. They know what I can do to help the team. I'm pretty happy for my first triple and my first home run."

Ventura (4-2) limited the Red Sox to one run through five innings before yielding a Travis Shaw home run with Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramirez aboard with two outs in the sixth. Pedroia singled and Ramirez was hit by a pitch before Shaw blasted a 1-0 offering out to right, pruning the Royals' advantage to 5-4.

Shaw finished 3-for-4 with two runs. In his past seven games, he has three home runs, 12 RBIs and nine runs.

"I made one bad pitch, and that was it," Ventura said of the Shaw homer with coach Pedro Grifol serving as his interpreter. "I thought I was locating really good."

Ventura, who leads the American League with 30 walks, was removed after walking the next hitter. Luke Hochevar replaced him and retired all four batters he faced.

Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello (6-2) was pulled after Cuthbert led off the sixth with a double, ending his streak of 15 consecutive starts throwing at least six innings, which was the longest active run in the majors.

Porcello yielded five runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

Boston's Jackie Bradley Jr. continued his streak as the game's hottest hitter. Bradley, who Monday was named the American League Player of the Week, extended his hitting streak to a career-high 22 games, the longest in the majors this season, with a two-out RBI double in the second inning to put the Red Sox on top 1-0.

Bradley's scorching double to left brought home Shaw, who had singled. It was Bradley's 16th extra-base hit and 27th RBI during his hitting streak.

It was a short-lived lead, however, as the Royals scored five runs off Porcello in the third and fourth innings.

Orlando, who collected five triples in his first seven big league games last year, tripled to leadoff the third and scored on Alcides Escobar's groundout.

Eric Hosmer, who has hit safely in 32 of his past 34 games, homered, his seventh, with two outs in the second, putting the Royals ahead 2-1.

The Royals bunched four consecutive singles and a Bradley error for three more runs in the fourth. Perez and Cuthbert started it with one-out singles. Infante's single to center scored Perez. When Bradley booted the ball, Cuthbert advanced to third and Infante to second. Orlando singled to center to score both.

Porcello required 99 pitches to make it through five-plus innings.

"I definitely made some mistakes, and obviously they capitalized on them," Porcello said. "They did a good job of taking advantage of pitches that were up and over the middle of the plate. I was just really inconsistent locating my fastball down in the zone, and some of the off-speed pitches I threw were not as effective as I would have liked."

NOTES: Royals 3B Mike Moustakas (fractured left thumb) said he reports Wednesday to Double-A Northwest Arkansas to begin a rehab assignment. He is eligible to be activated Friday when the Royals open a six-game trip at the White Sox. ... Red Sox RHP Joe Kelly (right shoulder impingement) struck out 10 and walked one in 6 1/3 scoreless innings in a rehab start Monday for Triple-A Pawtucket. Kelly likely will be activated Saturday to start against the Indians. ... Red Sox RHP Eduardo Rodriguez (right patellar subluxation) had a setback in his rehab assignment with Pawtucket and will miss his Thursday start because of knee soreness. ... The Royals moved LHP Mike Minor (torn labrum) from Northwest Arkansas to Triple-A Omaha to continue his rehab. He could be ready by early June for the big league rotation after not pitching last season after surgery May 13, 2015. ... Red Sox RHP Steven Wright will pitch the day game and LHP David Price the night game Wednesday of a day-night doubleheader. The Royals will counter with RHPs Ian Kennedy and Edinson Volquez, in that order.