Royals 6, White Sox 4
CHICAGO -- The Kansas City Royals picked up their second win in a row Thursday by beating the Chicago White Sox 6-4 at U.S. Cellular Field, but they had two more key players leave early with injuries.
A day after star center fielder Lorenzo Cain was hurt fouling a ball off his right knee, designated hitter Kendrys Morales and catcher Salvador Perez left this game. Morales experienced tightness in his left quadriceps in the fifth inning, after running first to third on Perez's double, and Perez left in the eighth with swelling in his right thumb.
No prognosis was immediately given by the Royals (92-67). Cain, who didn't play, is day-to-day with a contusion on his right knee.
As for the game, the Royals did something they've rarely done against White Sox left-hander John Danks. They roughed up the veteran starter for six runs on 11 of their 13 hits and paved the way for Kris Medlen to earn the win.
Kansas City had five hitters record multi-hit games, led by third baseman Mike Moustakas (2-for-5, 2 RBIs) and right fielder Jonny Gomes (1-for-2, 3 RBIs). Left fielder Alex Gordon went 2-for-4 and also drove in a run for the Royals, who lost four of five games prior to beating Chicago the past two days.
Jose Abreu went 2-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the White Sox (74-85). The Cuban-born slugger's two-run single in the seventh off right-hander Luke Hochevar cut Kansas City's lead to 6-4 and put him into the history books for the second straight night.
His home run Wednesday was his 30th of the season and put him with Albert Pujols and Ryan Braun as the lone players in major league history to hit at least that many in their first two seasons. The two RBIs a day later gave him 101 for the season, which tied him with Pujols as the only major league players with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs in their first two seasons.
Abreu is 13th player in history to have at least 100 RBIs in his first two seasons and first to do that since Hideki Matsui in 2003 and 2004 for the New York Yankees.
The Royals' bullpen recovered to preserve the win for Medlen (6-2), who allowed two runs on four hits and finished strong by retiring the final 10 hitters he faced.
Chicago had the tying runs on base with two outs in the eighth, but Alexei Ramirez was thrown out at the plate to end the inning, attempting to score when the ball got away from catcher Drew Butera.
Right-hander Ryan Madson closed it out in the ninth for his third save.
Danks had a great track record against the Royals coming into the game, but this outing was an outlier. The veteran left-hander allowed four runs on seven hits through the first three innings.
Kansas City scored one in the first on a double by Moustakas but did its most damage off Danks in the fourth. The Royals pushed their lead to 4-0 with three runs on four hits, with Hosmer's triple and Gomes' two-run single highlighting the rally.
The White Sox got two runs back in their half of the third off Medlen, who battled through some early troubles of his own. After failing to score off Medlen with the bases loaded in the first, Chicago plated two in the third to make it 4-2 on two hits and a key error by Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar.
Danks quickly gave those two runs back in the fifth, when the Royals made it 6-2 on three hits, including an RBI single by Gordon and Gomes' third RBI on a sacrifice fly.
NOTES: Royals CF Lorenzo Cain did not play Thursday after fouling a pitch off his right knee in the seventh inning on Wednesday. X-rays didn't show any fractures, and Cain is day-to-day with a knee contusion. "He's going to be fine," manager Ned Yost said. ... Royals RF Alex Rios was a late scratch because of back tightness. ... White Sox 2B Micah Johnson underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Thursday to remove scar tissue. He is expected to be fully recovered for spring training. ... The White Sox announced that upgrades will be made to U.S. Cellular Field by Opening Day next season. Highlighting the improvements will be three large video boards along the outfield concourse. The project was approved by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which owns the stadium.