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Royals baserunner Mike Sweeney slides safely into home plate as Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek tries to make the play during Wednesday's game. (Steven Senne/AP)

The Sox made Tuesday night's game look like batting practice, teeing off for four home runs and 15 hits in an 8-4 drubbing of the Royals.

How quickly things can change. What happened to that fearsome groove the Sox offense was in during the series opener?

It seems as if it was turned invisible by the finesse and control of Royals right-hander Paul Byrd, who pitched the Royals to a 6-2 victory Wednesday at Fenway Park.

As comfortable as the Sox were in from the first inning on Tuesday, that is how uncomfortable Byrd (7 1/3 innings, five hits, two earned runs) made them the next night.

Boston's top five hitters -- Johnny Damon, Rey Sanchez, Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez and Tony Clark -- went an aggregate 0-for-18.

Damon, an optimist by nature, knows that is no recipe for victory.

"When your top five hitters can't get anything going, it's pretty frustrating," said Damon. "He gave us some balls to hit -- we just couldn't do it."

Making this all the more exasperating for the Sox was that righty Derek Lowe -- making his first start after taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning last week in Baltimore -- pitched well enough to win.

"Derek pitched great," said Sox DH Brian Daubach, whose game-tying solo homer in the second was one of few bright spots for the Boston offense. "He allowed a lot more base runners than last time, but he battled. When he pitches like that, we have to win."

But a win wasn't part of the equation on a night Boston's four-game winning streak ended. It was the first loss for the Red Sox since Opening Day.

Some losses are easier to shrug off than others. This one didn't seem to sit too well in the Red Sox clubhouse.

"It's just the way the game went," sighed right fielder Trot Nixon. "Byrd made some good pitches at times, and sometimes he threw some hittable pitches and we popped 'em up or missed them."

Knowing that his hitters will have his back more often than not, Lowe took his first loss of the season in stride.

"With our offense, I'll take that outing any time," said the right-hander, whose seamless transformation from closer to starter has been impressive. "If you continually keep giving up two runs or less throughout the year, you are going to win a lot of games."

The chances of that happening became remote when righty Rich Garces, one of the game's most reliable setup men, had a rare rough outing. He got pounded for four runs in the top of the eighth to stretch what was a 2-1 nailbiter to a 6-1 Royals lead.

Only then did the Sox stage their first sustained rally of the night. They finally got rid of Byrd by putting runners at the corners with one out in the bottom of the eighth. Then reliever Brian Shouse hit Johnny Damon, loading the bases.

For the first time all night, the Fenway crowd was buzzing. However, pinch hitter Carlos Baerga's screaming liner to center was aimed directly at Carlos Beltran, resulting in a harmless sacrifice fly.

So it goes on nights like these.

"We did have a chance or two there to drive in a run," said Little, "but we didn't have many chances period tonight. While Byrd was out there he did a heck of a job."

What Byrd did was put a bunch of hot hitters in a funk.

Bad night at office for Guapo

Garces has been one of Boston's most consistent performers since 1998. You can almost always count on "El Guapo" to hold the opposition at bay in the seventh or eighth inning. But everyone has a bad night, and this was it for Garces.

He allowed hits to the first four batters he faced, allowing four runs in the game-breaking eighth.

Garces didn't hang around to talk about his bad outing. He was gone by the time the clubhouse was open to the media.

The Sox were unconcerned by his performance.

"Guapo is very important to our pitching staff," said Nixon. "He'll be fine his next outing, I guarantee that."

"Guapo's had better days. He'll have better days again," said Little. "He's one of our mainstays out there. He'll be ready tomorrow if we need him."

Running Royals tough to catch

Those worried about the progress of catcher Jason Varitek's surgically repaired right elbow shouldn't be alarmed by the fact the Royals stole five bases, including three by Chuck Knoblauch.

Most of Varitek's throws were on target.

"Jason threw the ball well tonight -- he just didn't get too many chances to throw the runner out," said Little. "That's one thing we might have to work on."

In fact, Varitek can feel his arm getting stronger by the day.

"I was happy the way I threw the ball, results aside" Varitek said. "I threw the ball much better here than I did all spring."

Varitek's arm provided one of the highlights of the game, when he completed a 5-2-3 double play to help rescue Lowe from a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fifth.

Back to the minors

Righty John Burkett (shoulder inflammation) is nearing his return to the Sox rotation. He will make a rehab start Sunday for Triple-A Pawtucket, instead of Double-A Trenton, as had been the tentative plan.

After the start in Pawtucket against Rochester, it will be determined if he is ready to rejoin the Sox and make his first official start in a Boston uniform.

Ian Browne covers the Red Sox for MLB.com. This story was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.