BOSTON — They say you can walk to the All-Star break, or you can sprint.

The Red Sox, bruised and battered, are limping.

They've been finding ways to win with an ever-changing lineup recently, narrowly staying ahead of the white-hot Yankees in the A.L. East. But the smoke-and-mirrors show ended Thursday night, as they lost to the Kansas City Royals, 8-6, and allowed New York to move into a tie for the division lead.

"They have been playing great," David Ortiz said of the Yankees. "It's not surprising. We always know the Yankees will find a way to bounce back. We can't worry about them. We need to keep winning series."

Thursday night's loss was particularly frustrating, since the Sox jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and turned a 5-3 advantage over to their normally airtight bullpen.

But the relievers had to start work in the sixth inning, thanks to a short outing by Brad Penny. With his pitch count at 97 after five innings, manager Terry Francona made the decision to go the 'pen in the top of the sixth.

"Our bullpen gave up some runs," said Francona. "When you ask them for four innings, that happens sometimes."

Penny, who hasn't won since June 17, allowed three runs on six hits with one walk and one strikeout.

"My command wasn't as good as it has been," he said. "Any time you [can only pitch five innings], you're not happy as a starting pitcher."

Red Sox relievers entered the game leading the majors in ERA (3.15) and had the lowest mark (28.7 percent) in the A.L. for allowing inherited runners to score. This time, though, they couldn't get it done.

Even so, said Francona, "I love our bullpen. I think we have the best bullpen in the league."

"They're great," said Penny. "I would give the ball to any one of those guys . . . My job as a starter is to go more than five innings."

Francona agreed Penny wasn't sharp, but more often than not, when the bullpen takes over with a lead, Boston feels pretty good about itself.

"Even though it was five innings, we turned it over to our bullpen a lot of times and have been in pretty good shape. We just couldn't hold them down in the sixth inning," Francona said.

Boston did score early, with help from Nos. 2, 3 and 4 in the order.

Dustin Pedroia provided a one-out double to left, Kevin Youkilis slapped a RBI single to left before Ortiz crushed a two-run homer to give Boston a 3-0 advantage in the bottom of the first inning. It was the 300th homer of Ortiz' career.

Boston pushed across another run in the bottom of the third inning on Jason Bay's RBI single to gain a 4-0 lead.

A four-run lead against the lowly Royals would seem safe. But it wasn't.

Penny allowed three runs on four hits as Kansas City worked its way back into this one in the top of the fourth inning. Despite the struggles, Penny settled in and retired the side in order in the top of the fifth. With a marginal one-run lead, Pedroia hit a solo home run in the home half of the inning for a 5-3 lead.

That wasn't safe, either.

With Penny out of the game, Manny Delcarmen entered in the top of the sixth inning and surrendered two runs on two hits before fellow bullpen arm Justin Masterson, also surrendered two runs on two hits, including a home run by David DeJesus, as the Royals gained a 7-5 lead.

"The ball was supposed to be away to DeJesus, but it ends up right at his bat," said Masterson. "I did a good job hitting his bat, and he did a good job swinging."

Boston's bullpen continued to let this one get away. After reliever Ramon Ramirez put up a zero in the seventh inning, the Royals got to him in the eighth when Willie Bloomquist provided a RBI triple for an 8-5 lead.

The Red Sox threatened in the eighth inning when they loaded the bases with one out, but came away with only one run on a sacrifice fly by Mark Kotsay.

With three games remaining with the Royals, the Red Sox can only continue to grind it out until the much-needed break. The bullpen can certainly use it.

"It's good we have the break now so they can take some time off and come back for the second half fresh," said Ortiz.

jmcdonal@projo.com