Kansas City, Mo. ? Head congested, body weak, sneezes machine-gunning from his nose, Clay Buchholz figured it was going to be a tough night.

Turned out to be just like the rest of his outings over the past two months.

Buchholz shook off a head cold to take a shutout into the seventh inning, and David Ortiz homered and drove in three runs to help the Boston Red Sox move closer to the postseason with a 10-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.

The Royals unraveled with five errors, six unearned runs and two ejections.

Royals ace Zack Greinke got the hook first, tossed from the bench by plate umpire Greg Gibson in the third after Anthony Lerew’s 1-2 pitch to Ellsbury was called a ball.

Manager Trey Hillman was sent off the next inning after Lerew nearly hit Mike Lowell with consecutive breaking balls, and Gibson warned both benches. Hillman had to be separated from Gibson by crew chief Tim McClelland, then lingered on the field for several minutes before leaving.