White Sox 3 - 4 Royals
Final
  for this game

Royals race past White Sox

Sep 16, 2014 - 7:12 AM Kansas City, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Lorenzo Cain's infield single in the bottom of the ninth capped a two-run rally with two outs and the Kansas City Royals defeated the Chicago White Sox, 4-3, in the opener of a three-game set.

Mike Moustakas doubled with one out and was immediately replaced on second by Jarrod Dyson. Alcides Escobar grounded out, leaving Kansas City with just one more chance. With Nori Aoki batting, Dyson stole third and Jake Petricka (1-5) uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Dyson to continue through to home, tying the game at 3-3.

Aoki, who went 4-for-4 on the evening, proceeded to rip a double inside the third-base line to keep the rally going. Pinch-runner Terrance Gore came on for Aoki and similar to Dyson, took third as Cain's single was chopped over Petricka's head and raced home to score the winning run as Alexei Ramirez had trouble with the bouncing ball behind second.

"Exciting," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "It was really exciting. When you have that kind of speed, it helps you and that's what happened today."

Kansas City still trails Detroit, which won at Minnesota on Monday, by 1 1/2 games in the AL Central.

Wade Davis (9-2) grabbed the win for a scoreless ninth before the Royals' speed benefited them in the home half.

The White Sox jumped on KC starter James Shields, who had thrown 18 1/3 scoreless innings coming into the game, with a run in the first. Adam Eaton and Jose Abreu each singled around an Ramirez strikeout, then Avisail Garcia delivered a two-out single that scored Eaton and gave the visitors a 1-0 edge.

Shields was taken off the hook for a loss after surrendering three runs on 10 hits with six strikeouts over seven innings of work.

Chicago added a pair of runs in the third thanks to a wild pitch from Shields. Eaton started the inning with a double and moved to third on a single to center from Ramirez. Abreu stepped in and Shields uncorked a wild pitch as he struck out the Cuban slugger, allowing Eaton to cross home and Ramirez to advance to second. Connor Gillaspie followed with an RBI single to push the White Sox's lead to 3-0.

Kansas City put a pair of runners on to start the sixth, but White Sox starter John Danks got Alex Gordon to ground into a double play before striking out Salvador Perez to end the threat.

Danks was excellent in limiting the Royals to just two hits and four walks while striking out six over six innings.

"I like pitching here," said Danks. "For whatever reason, I've had some success."

Javy Guerra entered in relief of Danks in the seventh and the Royals cashed in on the new look off the mound. Eric Hosmer led off with a double and scored two batters later when Omar Infante stroked a single to left. Raul Ibanez followed with a walk, however, Guerra got Escobar to ground into an inning- ending double play.

The Royals added a run in the eighth to trim the deficit to one entering the ninth. Aoki singled on a ground ball to third and reached second on throwing error by Gillaspie. Aoki advanced to third on a wild pitch with one out, then Gordon sent a single into center to make it 3-2. Gordon stole second as Perez struck out and Hosmer followed with a walk, but Petricka replaced Zach Putnam on the mound to get Billy Butler on a groundout to shortstop.

Game Notes

KC has won nine of its 13 meetings with the White Sox this season ... Chicago had won four of five but is now in a two-game losing skid ... Danks entered the game with a 6-0 mark in 14 starts against the Royals ... The White Sox outhit the Royals, 13-9.






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