For the second day in a row the Chicago White Sox got a strong pitching performance and just enough offense in a 5-2 triumph over the Kansas City Royals.
Reynaldo López threw six innings of one-run baseball, scattering four hits and striking out eight batters as he collected his fourth win of the season. Evan Marshall, Aaron Bummer, and Kelvin Herrera limited the Royals to just one more run as the Sox claimed their second win in a row to finish off the weekend series.
Eloy Jiménez homered for the second consecutive day, and Yoán Moncada collected four hits and an RBI to finish off the team’s five-game road trip on a positive note.
Jorge Soler blasted his 17th home run of the season for the Royals in the fourth inning, and Cheslor Cuthbert drove in the other Kansas City run in the losing effort.
The Sox got on the board early in the second inning as Jiménez cracked his eighth home run of the season over the center field wall, depositing the baseball 471 feet from home plate. That homer gave the Sox the lead, and they built on it later in the frame as Charlie Tilson doubled to left field, scoring Yolmer Sánchez and making it a 2-0 game.
After Soler homered in the fourth to give the Royals a run, the Sox slowly added insurance runs over the final three innings of the contest. Moncada had an RBI single in the seventh to make it 3-1, and Tim Anderson socked an RBI double in the eighth to make it a three-run game. José Abreu grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice in the ninth inning, extending Chicago’s lead to 5-1.
Herrera struggled a bit to close the door in the ninth inning, as Soler scored on an RBI double by Cuthbert, but he finished off the game by retiring the final three batters he faced.
Chicago Baseball
The White Sox will now head home for a six-game homestand beginning on Monday night with a rematch against the Washington Nationals.
