Paul Byrd earned his seventh win of the season Friday night in Cleveland. (Tony Dejak/AP)

CLEVELAND -- It was something old for Paul Byrd, something new for Tony Pena.

Because Byrd kept rolling along as the Royals' Mr. Reliable Friday night, Pena was rewarded with his first win as a Major League manager. Byrd went eight strong innings as Kansas City opened its seven-game road trip with a 6-2 win over Cleveland. When it was over, each Royals' player coming off the field stopped to give Pena a hug.

"That's going to show a lot of people the respect we have for each other on this ballclub already in three days," Pena said. "It was good to get the first one out of the way."

Later, reliever Jason Grimsley presented the game ball to Pena in the manager's office. For a guy who had some special moments playing in Cleveland in the twilight of his career, this night ranked right up there.

"It's really sweet for Tony to get his first win," said first baseman Mike Sweeney, who hit one of the three Kansas City home runs. "I'm sure it's a day he'll never forget. It's like getting your first Major League hit."

	Paul Byrd   /   P
			Height: 6'1" Weight: 184 Bats/Throws: R/R More info: Player page Stats Splits atlantabraves.com

The Royals fell to Minnesota 8-6 and 14-5 in Pena's opening two games. But when Byrd is on the mound, good things seem to happen for Kansas City. Byrd (7-2) is tied for the American League lead in wins with Mark Buehrle and owns half of Kansas City's victory total.

It was a gutsy effort by Byrd, who threw 125 pitches. He had 40 pitches after two innings, but then settled down and provided some much-needed rest for the Royals' bullpen.

"I wanted to win for Tony and I wanted to give our bullpen a breather," Byrd said. "Fortunately, it all worked out."

The Royals gave Byrd a quick lead when Joe Randa blasted a two-run homer in the first inning. Byrd didn't have his usual pinpoint control, but he made the big pitches when he needed them and finished with a flourish by fanning Jim Thome and Ellis Burks to end the eighth.

"It scared me when I had 40 pitches in the first two innings," Byrd said. "What was I thinking? I was trying to make the perfect pitch."

Kansas City had a pleasant combination offensively with four stolen bases to go with the three home runs. That enabled the Royals to get six runs, even though they only had six hits.

"This team always scores for me," Byrd said. "I've been pitching well, but I have to say I've also had good fortune. Omar Vizquel hit a ball down the line that was about four feet foul. A few feet the other way and it would have been a two-run homer and tied the game (in the fifth). When you're going well and winning games, you need some breaks like that to go your way."

Randa reached base on all five trips and Chuck Knoblauch homered and drove in two runs.

The three homers were nice, but Pena said he won't be counting on that type of power night in and night out.

"That's not our game," Pena said. "Speed is our game. Sweeney is the only guy we count on (to hit home runs). The rest of the club. . .we're going to play fast baseball."

Byrd said it warmed his heart to see Pena get his first win as Royals' manager.

"Tony has been great," Byrd said. "He has come over here with a lot of enthusiasm. You can already tell he cares about his players as people. He's going to get the best out of his players, I can tell you that right now."

When they came to Cleveland in April, the Royals were 4-4 and feeling pretty good about themselves. But a couple of tough losses at Jacobs Field started a downward spiral that ultimately led to Tony Muser's dismissal as manager.

Now, the Royals, 14-25, are back at Jacobs Field with a new manager and a new outlook.

"It's good to get out on the road and really get to know everybody on the ballclub," Pena said. "The first couple of days, you're just getting familiar with different people. We played good baseball tonight and our starting pitcher was outstanding.

"Paul really wanted to go back out for the eighth inning, even though he had thrown a lot of pitches. He wanted it badly, so I said okay. On another night, maybe we'll only have him throw 85 pitches. But tonight, he was able to give us 125 pitches."

Something old for Byrd, something new for Pena.

"Paul Byrd is a warrior," Sweeney said. "It's contagious. When Paul's on the mound, we're like a different team."

Robert Falkoff covers the Royals for MLB.com. This story was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.