KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Luke Hudson allowed one run in five innings in his first start of the season and John Buck and Matt Stairs homered to lead the Kansas City Royals to their fourth straight victory, 13-3 over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.

David DeJesus and Doug Mientkiewicz each had three hits and drove in three runs for Kansas City.

The Royals, who lost 47 of their first 63 games, are 14-6 over the past 20 games and the winning streak matches their longest of the season. The Blue Jays have lost five of six.

Hudson, the Royals’ 13th starting pitcher this season, gave up two hits, walked one and struck out one. Hudson, who was 1-3 with a 7.24 ERA in 11 relief appearances, left after 72 pitches, 47 for strikes.

Hudson (2-3) picked up his first win as a starter since Aug. 28, 2005, while with the Cincinnati Reds. The Royals signed Hudson as a free agent on March 13, after the Reds released him in spring training.

Buck celebrated his 26th birthday with a two-run homer in a four-run seventh that knocked out A.J. Burnett (1-3), who was making his fourth start since coming off the disabled list with a sore elbow.

Burnett, who threw a season-high 116 pitches, went six-plus innings, allowing six runs – two unearned – nine hits and one walk, while striking out four.

After Burnett left, Mientkiewicz hit a two-run double off Scott Schoeneweis. The Royals have hit at least one double in 29 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the majors.

Stairs hit a solo home run, his eighth, in the sixth.

The Royals scored five unearned runs in the eighth, highlighted by DeJesus’ three-run double.

The Royals took a 3-0 lead in the fourth on run-scoring singles by Mark Teahen, who stretched his hitting streak to a career-high 10 games, and Tony Graffanino.

The Blue Jays got a run in the fifth on an RBI triple by Aaron Hill, who had both hits off Hudson.

Russ Adams’ two-run single with two outs in the seventh off Elmer Dessens cut the Royals’ lead to 4-3.

Notes: Blue Jays OF Alex Rios was released Friday from a Toronto Hospital. Rios went on the DL on June 28 with a staph infection in his left leg. … Toronto C Gregg Zaun, who walked twice, has reached base in 33 of his 35 starts. … Royals C Paul Bako sat out his second straight game with tightness in his right rib cage area.

AP-ES-07-07-06 2314EDT