Luis Robert was 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs as the Chicago White Sox defeated the host Kansas City Royals 7-4 Thursday afternoon, taking the rare five-game series three games to two.
Robert’s homer in the eighth gave the White Sox their largest lead, capping six straight runs for the Sox. The White Sox scored five of their seven runs on hits with an 0-2 or 1-2 count.
Bennett Sousa (2-0) earned the win in relief. Liam Hendriks earned his 12th save. He saved all three White Sox wins in the series.
Gabe Speier (0-1) took the loss for Kansas City, allowing a run and three hits in just 1/3 of an inning.
The White Sox scored at least five runs for just the ninth time in their 38 games, but they could have had more. They left eight runners on base in the first four innings, a total of 11 in the game.
The Royals jumped on the board in the first. Bobby Witt Jr. beat the relay to first on a potential inning-ending double play ball, then Hunter Dozier drove him home with a two-run homer. Nicky Lopez drove in Kyle Isbel for the third run in the second.
The White Sox got one back in the top of the third Robert drove in Tim Anderson with a single up the middle. But the Royals got that run back in the bottom of the third as Dozier drove in Witt again, this time with a single to left.
The White Sox chased Kansas City starter Carlos Hernandez with no outs in the fourth. A pair of infield singles and a line-drive single to left field loaded the bases. Anderson drove in two runs with a single and Hernandez was done. Ronald Bolanos relieved him and kept the Sox from scoring again in the inning.
Chicago tied it in the sixth on another RBI single by Robert. They grabbed the lead an inning later on an RBI single by pinch-hitter Adam Engel, scoring AJ Pollock, who led off the inning with a single.
Robert hit an 0-2 pitch 415 feet into the bleachers in left center for the final Chicago runs.
White Sox starter Vince Velasquez tossed five innings and gave up four runs, six hits and a walk while striking out three. Hernandez yielded three runs, five hits and five walks with three strikeouts in his three-plus innings.
–Field Level Media