Kansas City, Mo. ? Instead of winning the game with one stroke of the bat as he did the night before, Brent Mayne spread himself around.

He drove in two runs in the second inning. Then he drove in another in the fourth. Then, on a 4-for-4 night when he tied his career-highs in both hits and RBIs, he stroked another RBI single in the sixth to lead the Kansas City Royals past Chicago, 8-6, for their sixth straight win.

“This is what I’ve been waiting for all year,” said Mayne, whose 11th-inning home run beat Texas, 5-4, Tuesday night.

“Man, it’s about time. I’m really happy to be swinging the bat a little bit better the last couple of days. It feels good to contribute offensively instead of just defensively.”

Neifi Perez reached three times and scored three runs for the Royals, on their best streak since winning six straight from June 26-July 1 last year.

“Everybody will be here tomorrow morning probably at 8 o’clock,” Royals manager Tony Pena said. “I might sleep here tonight. It’s fun when you win. You can’t wait to play the next game.”

Frank Thomas was 4-for-5 with three doubles, including a two-run drive off rookie reliever Ryan Bukvich that pulled Chicago within two runs in the seventh. He has seven hits in 10 at-bats since a 2-for-37 slump.

“Maybe he has figured something out,” Chicago manager Jerry Manuel said. “He might be on his way.”

Todd Ritchie (5-13) allowed eight runs and 12 hits in 5 2-3 innings. Ritchie leads the major leagues in losses and the AL in runs allowed (93). Ritchie, who has a 5.98 ERA, has lost eight consecutive road decisions since a 7-1 win at Cleveland on April 23.

“Since about the middle of May, I’ve been totally terrible,” Ritchie said. “This team has been carrying dead weight as far as I am concerned. All the stuff is there. It just seems like every time I have a decent outing, I come back with one like tonight.”

After Thomas hit the first of his three doubles, Jeff Suppan issued three straight walks in the second inning, putting Chicago ahead.

Suppan (8-7) won despite giving up six runs, eight hits and five walks in 6 1-3 innings. Roberto Hernandez pitched the ninth for his 17th save in 21 chances.

“We won,” said Suppan. “That’s the bottom line. It was a battle for me out there.”

Kansas City went ahead 4-1 in the second on Michael Tucker’s two-run homer and Mayne’s two-run single.

Magglio Ordonez, who homered twice Tuesday night, hit a two-run homer off in the third, but run-scoring singles by Mayne and Aaron Guile extended the lead to 6-3 in the fourth, and Mayne and Luis Alicea had RBI singles off Ritchie in the sixth.

Paul Konerko chased Suppan with an RBI double in the three-run seventh.

Notes: Royals 1B Mike Sweeney missed his fifth straight game with stiffness in his back and 3B Joe Randa was out with a sore elbow. … Guile brought a roar from the crowd in the sixth when he misjudged Royce Clayton’s fly ball and then recovered in time to make a great running catch near the wall in right. … Ritchie has lost 11 of his last 14 starts.