Boston's Beckett blanks Royals for 100th win

BOSTON (Reuters) - Josh Beckett of the Boston Red Sox made his 100th career victory a special one by shutting out the Kansas City Royals 6-0 with a complete game three-hit victory on Sunday.

Beckett (11-3) struck out seven in joining Boston team mate Tim Wakefield as the only American League pitchers to reach 11 wins this season. The All-Star right-hander has a 100-65 record for nine seasons in the Major Leagues.

"It's pretty memorable," Beckett told reporters. "It's cool. It means I've stuck around for a little while.

"Fortunately for me, this team scores quite a bit of runs," he added. "It's kind of jump-started me toward those numbers."

Red Sox manager Terry Francona was delighted with Beckett's pitching, especially his work with his fastball.

"He was so good today," Francona said. "That was fun to watch."

The win put the Red Sox (54-34) three games ahead of the New York Yankees in the American League East heading into the All-Star break.

They have the AL's best record and are second in the majors to the National League-leading Los Angeles Dodgers (56-32).

Beckett did not give up a hit until Kansas City's David DeJesus led off the fourth with a double.

The 29-year-old retired nine more batters in order before Mitch Maier and Mark Teahen singled in the seventh.

The Royals loaded the bases when Beckett hit Jose Guillen but Brayan Pena grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Boston used a three-run fourth inning to take a 4-0 lead.

The American League East leaders collected only one hit in the inning, rookie Aaron Bates' run-scoring double, but took advantage of four walks, including a bases-loaded pass to Jason Varitek.

Bates went 3-for-4 with Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and Rocco Baldelli each getting two hits.

The Royals, who used five pitchers, walked nine Red Sox. Bruce Chen (0-4) took the loss, giving up six hits and three runs in three-plus innings.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina. Editing by Ed Osmond and Greg Stutchbury)